Yuki-Onna
by Acidika
Summary: Fifteen years since the destruction of both Umbrella and Raccoon City, young Yuuki Darkwood struggles to maintain a somewhat normal life. But the tragic death of her father, Tobias, has her on edge. Especially when she gets attacked by a group called Neo-Umbrella, and a strange boy named Jake Muller starts getting close to her. Rated M for sexual content, violence and language.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Welcome to the sequel of Silence, my largest story I've written thus far. It is roughly 4 times the length of my next longest story, and like a true masochist, I started writing this sequel right after the finale. Now, for reference, this story begins at the same time as Silence's Epilogue takes place, which is about 15 years after the finale of Silence. Now, since it is a sequel, anyone just picking this story up will miss a lot of vital information regarding a majority of the characters, so I HIGHLY suggest reading Silence FIRST (I know it's over 200k words, shush) and then coming back to this one.**

* * *

Yuuki leaned her hip against her motorbike, toying with her zippo lighter with one hand. She had heard the news of her father's death over in Eastern Europe with the BSAA, but she couldn't bring herself to enter the church with her mother. There was something about the whole concept of a funeral that didn't sit well with her.

While she waited for her family to finish up inside the church, Yuuki suddenly spotted a blonde woman striding into the church, and for some reason, she instinctively sensed something familiar about her. It was very similar to the distinctive sense she got from her mother, her aunts and her uncle... and her father, before his death.

She couldn't quite figure it out, but not even two minutes later, the woman was walking back out of the church and happened to look up and see Yuuki leaning on the old black motorcycle.

"You must be Yuuki." The woman approached the young teenager, who's stunning solid blue eyes instantly narrowed.

"How do you know my name, bitch?" Yuuki snarled. She wasn't very social, and this woman was making her feel oddly uncomfortable.

"Is that any way to speak to your grandmother?" The woman raised an eyebrow, oddly amused at Yuuki's hostility. "You're just like your mother, but you have his eyes and hair."

"What the fuck? I thought my dad said he killed his mother." Yuuki was on edge, and her hand stopped flipping her lighter open and closed.

"Not exactly... But, the fact remains, I am your grandmother... My name is Alice." The blonde woman held out her hand to her grandchild, but the girl smirked and ignored the hand.

"Prove it." Yuuki crossed her arms over her stomach.

"Now isn't the time or place for that." Alice glanced at several pedestrians nearby. "But I can sense the T-Virus inside your body. And I know what your powers are... You control water."

"So what the fuck's your power?" Yuuki hissed, glancing around to make sure there wasn't anyone close enough to eavesdrop.

"Telekinesis. I even gave your father a sample of my blood to give the power to him, before I died of course." Alice replied. "I came here to pay respects to my dead son... so give this to your mother, tell her to give me a call when she gets a chance." Alice held out a business card, which Yuuki accepted without looking at it. "I'll see you around, Yuuki."

With that, Alice turned and walked away, leaving Yuuki to look down at the crisp BSAA business card in her hand. "Motherfucker..."

* * *

Yuuki followed the funeral precession to the grave, begrudgingly standing beside her mother as the casket was lowered into the grave.

After the burial, Yuuki was hailed by one of her father's BSAA comrades, the big muscular guy from his squad, Lieutenant Redfield.

"Excuse me, do you have a moment?" He asked quietly as Yuuki stopped walking towards her bike.

"Yeah, I got a minute." Yuuki still remembered her father's rules about respecting the BSAA. They were his organization, after all.

"After speaking to your mother, we've decided that you should be the one to receive these." Chris held out his closed hand, placing the two objects into her palm. "I understand if you want them destroyed."

Yuuki opened her hand, revealing her dad's BSAA dogtags and a black metal chain with a massive bullet casing and mangled bullet.

"If you don't mind, can you shove this bullet back into the casing? I'm sure they belong together, knowing my dad."

"I don't want to break it, you see..." Chris looked unsure. "Not without tools, that is."

"Alright... thanks anyway." Yuuki took the bullet and shoved it into her leather jacket's pocket, then hung both of the necklaces around her neck. "I have to ask... Was my father a hero, or did he die in vain?"

"He was a hero... More than you believe." Chris replied solemnly.

"Alright, do svidaniya." Yuuki replied, turning on her heel and pulling her bike helmet over her head before riding away.

* * *

Yuuki laid on her back, her eyes closed as she felt the weight of her father's dogtags and the strange black metal necklace on her chest. She'd managed to shove the broken bullet back into the casing, and only then did she realize that the bullet was _massive_. She'd seen her dad's obnoxious revolvers only a few times, but they were the only guns she could possibly see the damn thing coming from.

Opening her eyes, she detected the sound of her mother approaching, so she quickly got to her feet and swam to the surface of the pool. Her head broke the surface just as her mother smirked knowingly at her from the edge of the water.

"I thought you said you were training?" Rize raised an eyebrow as she regarded her daughter.

"I am." Yuuki replied. "I was just taking a break."

"I know." Rize smiled. "You do know I've been keeping track of your movements, right?"

"Shit." Yuuki muttered under her breath. She'd been laying at the bottom of the pool for longer than she thought.

"It's about your dad... isn't it?" Rize regarded her daughter sadly. Out of their entire family, Yuuki hadn't really shown much of a reaction to Tobias' death... It was almost like she was denying it entirely.

"I don't know... I just..." Yuuki started, but then stopped herself. "Never mind. I'll get back to training now."

"By the way, I found this laying on your jacket. Is it yours?" Rize held up a business card between two fingers.

"Yeah... about that." Yuuki swam to the side of the pool and hauled herself onto the edge. "Some old broad gave that to me outside of the church during dad's funeral. She said for you to give her a call, she claimed that she's my grandmother."

"So, you met Alice..." Rize sighed. "Alright, out of the water. This might get interesting, knowing her."

"You sure?" Yuuki raised an eyebrow. This was an unusual development, to say the least.

* * *

"Nice to see you again, Yuuki." Alice smiled as she removed her sunglasses.

"Hmph." Yuuki hummed in acknowledgement as she drank some coffee. She didn't particularly trust Alice very much... yet.

"I've gathered she's just like her father, even though she's a near clone of you, Rize." Alice turned towards her oldest daughter. "So... I guess it's about time I tell you what happened since Umbrella existed."

"Can that wait until Tabitha and Serenity get here? They said they'd be here shortly." Rize asked, scrutinizing her adoptive mother closely. "You've aged quite well for someone that died, y'know."

Alice smiled ruefully. "You're not the same teenager I remember either... And you've had a kid. She's fifteen right?"

"Yeah, I was two months pregnant with her when we slaughtered Umbrella." Rize smiled. "I had a hot flash, and Toby... y'know. Helped."

"And despite being in the BSAA, he still managed to remain in her life... to the very end." Alice sighed. "Not that I should be one to talk."

"Hey... Don't say that." Rize shook her head. "He did everything to avenge you. You and I both know that Wesker was a piece of shit. He'd have done Toby dirty for a fucking Klondike Bar."

"Those actually don't taste as good as people think they do." Alice smirked, since she still remembered what they tasted like, even after nearly 20 years of not eating one.

Before Rize could say anything else, Alice was suddenly thrown forward, stumbling as something large collided with her back, accompanied by a loud "YOU FUCKING BITCH!"

Alice's assailant turned out to be Serenity, who had already locked lips with her old lover, straddling Alice's stomach to stop her from escaping.

"Don't you ever do that to me again!" Serenity spoke threateningly into Alice's face as she pressed her forehead against Alice's. "Do you know how fucking hard it is to get a good looking woman when you're almost fifty!?"

"Not really..." Alice replied. "I'm 52, and I got myself a gorgeous woman." She kissed Serenity back lovingly.

"So, if she's really my grandmother, who the fuck raped her to have dad?" Yuuki asked her mother in Russian, one of two languages that her parents used to talk to each other - the other being Japanese - so she learned both. For whatever reason, despite looking completely Asian like her mother, Yuuki preferred to speak Russian, like her father.

"I'll let Grandma Alice explain everything." Rize replied in Russian as well, but actually forgot that Alice spoke the language.

"Hey, hey! No 'Grandma Alice' nonsense!" Alice separated herself from the near-feral Serenity to responde in English. "I may be in my fifties, but by no means have I earned that title yet!"

"Technically, you have." Rize shrugged. "Then again, you were thought to be dead... so I'll downgrade you to 'Aunt'... For now."

* * *

 **A/N: As of this initial upload, I'm in the process of writing the 12th chapter. And I'm considering to upload this one on the weekends. Haven't decided that yet, but I do know that it will be weekly.**


	2. Chapter 2

Alice finished explaining absolutely everything after Tabitha arrived with her fiance, Hinami. Yuuki had listened to everything she'd said, and was mildly impressed regarding the circumstances concerning Alice's apparent return from the dead.

"So this... Issacs or whatever, just shoved some adrenaline into you when he noticed your gunshot wound was regenerating?" Yuuki narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Exactly. After that, Wesker tried to have me isolated, even controlled, but I escaped Raccoon City the next day, and I had to lay low until I got the news that Toby had destroyed them. After that, I just... couldn't bring myself to come back into his life. I just knew that it would break him, yet again."

"Yet you joined the organization he helped create... Why?" Yuuki glared at her grandmother.

"Do you want the truth? It's rather surprising." Alice held up her hands apologetically as her granddaughter nodded - very similarly to her father's slow angry nod she'd seen so many times. "They pay better than my old job as Head of Security at Umbrella... And I got to justify being there as a way of giving back to the world for all the corruption I was involved with at Umbrella."

"Hmph." Yuuki crossed her legs and arms. "I should've expected something stupid like that."

"Yuuki..." Rize spoke glaringly to her daughter. "Alice is trying here, the least you could do is be polite."

"I don't trust her." Yuuki replied in Japanese, once again unaware of Alice's linguistic ability.

"Well, what can I do for you to trust me, even a little bit?" Alice asked in Japanese. "Just so you know, I speak seven languages."

Yuuki scowled, which briefly showed her sharp fangs before she stood up suddenly and stormed off.

"Yuuki Serafima Darkwood, get back here right now!" Rize was already on her feet with glowing red eyes before her moody daughter had even reached the living room doorway. "I will ignite if you take one more step."

Yuuki knew her mother wasn't bluffing. And she knew that if Rize did it, she'd be on the floor in seconds. She had a severe weakness to heat and dry air conditions. It left her gasping for breath on the ground, completely at the mercy of the element. Anything that caused her to dehydrate was near-fatal.

"I'm warning you..." Rize glared at her daughter's back, still silent and not moving.

"Rize, sweetie... please." Alice stood up, holding out her hand. "Let me do this."

Rize glanced between her daughter and her mother, still angry. After a few moments, her eyes and presense simmered down and she nodded without a word.

"Yuuki, before you do leave, will you at least consider my request?" Alice slowly approached the girl's side, speaking very calmly and quietly.

"Maybe..." Yuuki replied. "I just need to clear my head right now."

"I understand." Alice nodded. "It's a lot to take in at one time." She held out her hand for the girl to shake.

Yuuki glanced at it, already sensing her mother's glare at her back, then shook her grandmother's hand briefly before walking away.

The second she heard a distant door closing, Alice turned back to Rize and smirked. "See? Progress."

* * *

"Okay, so wait... Let me get this straight; Your dad accidentally shot and killed your grandmother fifteen years ago, and now she suddenly shows up like 'yo, sup gurl?' and acts like nothing's wrong?" Sherry Birkin's voice came through Yuuki's cellphone as Yuuki herself idly floated in the pool on her back.

"Yeah, shit's fucked up, I know. And she's working for the BSAA, like my dad. I mean, how the fuck didn't he ever realize that his supposedly dead mom was working alongside him?! I mean, seriously, I know my dad's not stupid." Yuuki ranted about the thought that suddenly crossed her mind.

"Maybe she did all the behind-the-scenes shit while he's out in the field?" Sherry suggested. "So, tell me, do you think you'll ever try to let her back into your life? I mean, shit, she got fucking shot by her own son, you have any idea what she'd been through?"

"I know what's been through _her_." Yuuki commented. She was, of course referring to the massive bullet hanging from her neck with her dad's dogtags.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sherry immediately asked, confused.

"What if I told you I have the exact bullet that my dad shot her with, including the shell casing?" Yuuki glanced at the black metal - apparently called Quinque Steel - nestled safely in her cleavage. "Apparently Alice got ahold of it after she came back from the dead and kept it after all these years. I know that the casing was what my dad kept as a reminder of the incident."

"So you combined them, huh? What kind of bullet is it? Do you know?" Sherry asked, curious.

"Alice said it's one that my dad designed back in his Umbrella days... they're called Ragnarok rounds. It's from his big black revolver, The Beast."

"Doesn't your mom still have his guns?" Sherry asked, clearly putting two and two together.

"As far as I know, yeah. They should still be upstairs in dad's gunsafe. I'll ask Lieutenant Redfield if dad had them on him when he died."

"Unless they were cleaned, then you'd know right away if they were. They'd still be scorched from the fire, remember?" Sherry reminded her.

"True... Anyway, I'm gonna go for now. I can sense her coming." Yuuki suddenly sensed the still unusual T-Virus presense that Alice gave off approaching the pool room.

"Bye, babe." Sherry hung up, and Yuuki willed herself to sink under the water just as Alice strode into the large room.

Alice didn't say anything. She knew that Yuuki had sensed her approaching T-Virus, so she just sat down on the nearby bench and waited for the teenager to come up to speak to her, on her own terms.

Yuuki could tell what Alice was doing as she floated about four feet below the surface of the water, trying to find a reason to talk to her grandmother. What would she say to her? 'hey, sorry about your son, don't mind me, I'll just be a moody bitch over here in my sanctuary, which you're currently intruding on.' Yeah, like that would work...

After a while, Yuuki sighed and returned to the surface, her face breaking the water as she turned her gaze towards her grandmother.

"Toby had a very similar Cryokinetic ability to that. He called it Ice Skin... Although in your case, it's scales on your body, while his was a layer of interlocking ice crystals that covered his body. Hell, he could even protect other people with it, when need be."

Yuuki was well aware of her mutagenic ability. When she was in water for long enough, her skin mutated into silvery scales, oddly like a dragon's scales. From tests with her father early after developing the ability, she learned that they were extremely durable - protecting her against knives and a majority of bullet calibers - yet at the same time, they weren't just a water-exclusive ability. She could cover herself with her Scale Mail - her own name for the ability - whenever she wanted, even on land.

"I'm very well aware of my dad's powers." Yuuki spoke in a quiet voice. "Why are you here?"

"Trust me, I'm just listening to your mother." Alice replied. "She said she wanted me to keep an eye on you while she goes to pick up your uncle from work."

"Did something happen to his car?" Yuuki was suspicious about that. Kaneki could drive - and owned a car - so why the fuck wasn't he driving himself home?

"Sadly, yes... It wasn't starting properly, so he had it towed to the mechanic." Alice nodded. "So, we're stuck together for about twenty minutes... Do you mind me being in here with you?"

"A bit, yeah..." Yuuki admitted. "This is, like... the only place where I can really think in peace."

"I understand..." Alice nodded very slowly. "Well, in that case, I'll get out of your hair."

With that, Alice stood up and left Yuuki floating at the edge of the pool.

"Damn it..." Yuuki muttered to herself, uncomfortable with the suddenly empty feeling that hung in the air after Alice left the room.

* * *

Upstairs in Yuuki's bedroom, unbeknownst to anybody, a large figure placed a wooden box onto her desk, gently placing his hand on the surface of the lid before exiting out the balcony where he'd initially entered, closing the glass doors behind himself before jumping straight into the air.


	3. Chapter 3

Despite the recent death of her father, Yuuki still went to school the next day. Along the way there, she got herself a quick coffee before riding her bike into the school parking lot and pulling her helmet off.

As she walked through the halls, she noticed a few people were staring at her two new accessories with numerous whispers spreading like wildfire. Nobody knew why she hadn't been at school last Friday, but it was Monday now, so it was irrelevant gossip by now.

"Hey, check out that Asian goth chick man! She's fuckin' smokin' hot!" Yuuki caught the sound of an unfamiliar guy's voice from nearby, so she immediately turned her gaze towards the source and saw a bunch of guys checking her out. She didn't mind, honestly, considering that she'd inherited her mother's good looks and her father's height - not to mention his intimidating presence when she needed it - so she was a well known stunner among the guys at school.

However, one particular guy in their group wasn't looking at her with even a glint of lust in his eyes. A redheaded guy in a leather jacket with a crewcut and a massive scar on his cheek was looking at her suspiciously, almost as if he knew who she was.

For some strange reason, the mere sight of that boy sent a shiver up her spine.

* * *

Yuuki didn't see Sherry until second period, and she came up behind her and covered her eyes, cooing softly into Yuuki's ear.

"Did you miss me?"

Yuuki immediately spun around and slammed her hands onto the wall on either side of her smiling girlfriend's head.

"I think a better question is... did _you_ miss _me_?" Yuuki smirked before she started to kiss her girlfriend, immediately tasting the spicy-sourness of the G-Virus that was in her body.

Sherry's father had worked for Umbrella in a top secret project centered around a prototype variant of the T-Virus that resided inside of Yuuki and her family. That prototype was called the G-Virus or Genetic Virus. It was designed by her father, but after the outbreak of the T-Virus in Raccoon City at the time, her dad had accidentally become contaminated with the prototype without knowing. But, in a surpising twist, he wasn't mutated like he should've been. It had acclimated to his DNA, giving him a few minor powers alongside a huge boost in intellect. After escaping the city he and his wife had Sherry, who inherited about half of his minor powers, and had significantly high IQ.

The chief power that Sherry possessed was her insane regenerative capability. It was even more powerful than Rize and Uncle Kaneki's uniquely powerful Rinkaku boosted regeneration powers. When Yuuki found out, Sherry immediately broke her own arm to prove the speed that she healed at.

"Don't be coy." Sherry teased, likewise tasting Yuuki's own T-Virus on her lips. The sweetly-sour combo oddly reminded Sherry of a super ripe strawberry's tartness. Sadly, Yuuki would never be able to have that particular pleasure, because like her parents, Yuuki was a Ghoul. A full fledged Ghoul, so unlike her father, she had two Kakugan.

"Then don't tempt me..." Yuuki replied just as the sound of a passing teacher clearing their throat made them separate.

"Ladies, proper behaviour should be partaken while on school grounds." The teacher reminded them sternly as they turned and glared at the interruption.

" _Bite me_!" Yuuki scowled as she marched away, bringing Sherry along by the wrist. She was notoriously mouthy at school, so it wasn't exactly unusual for her to suddenly say such a thing, in fact, her signature comeback was in fact, 'bite me'. She said it because nobody had the balls to actually do it.

Sitting in their science class, Yuuki and Sherry immediately set out their books and noticed that the teacher was speaking to a new student at their desk.

"Who's the new guy?" Sherry leaned over, whispering curiously to Yuuki.

"I don't know, but I get the strangest feeling that I've met him before." Yuuki admitted the strange familiarity to the redheaded boy with the scar. "But I've never seen him before."

"For a guy, he's actually kinda hot." Sherry admitted shamelessly. "But he ain't my Mermaid."

Yuuki sighed at Sherry's petname for her, Mermaid. Of course, Sherry pretty much knew everything about her and the T-Virus, so she was one of very few people that knew what happened when she got into the water. Hell, she'd even seen Yuuki use her Scale Mail outside of the water a few times.

"Alright, sit down everyone. I know it's Monday and you're all miserable, but let's try to get through another Monday morning, okay?" Their science teacher, Excella Gionne called out in her distinctive African accent. "But first, allow me to introduce your new classmate, Jake Muller."

Jake scanned the room as everyone focused their gazes onto him. Nobody really caught his eye until he laid his gaze upon Yuuki and Sherry, seated near the back. Only then did he show any real change in facial expression, which even that was minute. He merely smirked a little bit, which made his scar curve with his cheek muscles.

"Mr. Muller, you can have a seat at the back with Miss Darkwood and Miss Birkin. They can bring you up to speed on what we're working on today." Excella indicated the two girls at the back, which made Jake nod once and silently walk towards them and sit beside Yuuki in the free seat.

As Excella began the lesson, Yuuki and Sherry glanced over towards Jake, who had pulled out a brand new notebook and pen, immediately getting to work on his notes. He still hadn't said a word yet, which was making Yuuki particularly suspicious.

"Need any help?" Yuuki asked quietly, leaning over slightly to check what he was writing.

"No." Jake replied, his voice low in both tone and volume.

"Are you sure? We're in the middle of a large experiment already. We can bring you up to speed..." Sherry offered, but Jake continued to write down what Excella was explaining.

"Trust me, blondie, I know what I'm doing." Jake stopped her with but a glance, which made Yuuki glare at him.

"Then don't come crying to us when you fuck it all up." Yuuki sneered, taking down her own notes without looking at Jake any more.

"Alright, now, you have your experiments at the back, continue working until the bell. Mr. Muller, you will be working with Miss Darkwood and Miss Birkin for this assignment." Excella informed the class after her lecture finished a few minutes later. "Now, begin!"

Yuuki and Sherry were already on their feet, collecting their experiment from the back of the class and placing it at their workstation. They immediately set to work connecting the wires and components of their electrical circuit.

Jake was quiet, merely observing for about ten minutes while Yuuki and Sherry reconnected all the proper parts and wires. Then he suddenly said. "You have a fault in the circuit."

"We haven't even finished putting it together, we'll address the problem once we're finished." Sherry said quietly, surveying their progress before checking the instruction diagram they had been given the week earlier.

"Alright then... Don't come crying to me when it blows up in your faces." Jake took a step back and put his hands behind his back, scowling. This, plus his twisting of Yuuki's own line from moments ago made her scowl even more as she whispered to Sherry in Russian - a language she was taking for school, but Yuuki was tutoring her in.

"If he's so smart, why not give him an entire circuit for himself?"

"What you don't know, is not only do I speak Russian, I already did this exact same project at my last school before I transferred here." Jake suddenly spoke in perfect Russian, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Your circuit is unsafe, let me fix it."

"For fuck sake! Y'know what, fine! Fuckin' go for it, asshole! Fix the fucking circuit, be my bloody guest!" Yuuki suddenly snarled at him - loudly - in Russian, without even thinking about the language she was speaking. To top it off, she took a threatening step towards him, holding her hands up in the air boldly.

With that, Jake smiled fully before approaching the circuit and connecting the last few pieces before taking a paperclip out of his pocket and precisely tossing onto a particular part of the circuit, which instantly sparked and made a small zapping sound as the metal connected to the conductive component.

"Now, here's the problem..." Jake switched to speaking English then grabbed a wire and pulled it completely off the circuit, rendering it safe. He then plucked the D battery they were using out, just to be safe. "These components here are connected poorly, in terms of fabrication, so the piece of metal underneath was touching the conduits just enough to create an unsafe connection in the two lines, despite both being designed to be separate. Had either of you touched anything once this circuit was completed, you'd be the one that got shocked, not the paperclip."

"Yuuki..." Sherry spoke to her quietly. "He's actually right. I didn't even notice it myself. And you know that..."

"Yeah, I get it." Yuuki replied curtly, not wanting to think about what would happen if she got an electric shock of any kind. "You may be smart, but you're a fucking prick, Muller."

"I never said I was smart." Jake replied, crossing his arms and shifting his feet. "That doesn't mean I don't have experience that you lack."

Sherry instantly grabbed Yuuki by the waist, pulling her back as she took a threatening step towards Jake, who was still calm as ever.

"Yuuki, don't do it!" Sherry whispered into her ear in Russian. "He's not worth it."

Yuuki sneered at Jake, knowing damn full well that if Sherry didn't possess an equal amount of enhanced strength as she did, Jake would be on the floor by now.

"Take it as you will, Darkwood, but I just saved your ass." Jake commented. "The least you could do is thank me."

"Go fuck yourself." Yuuki snarled in Japanese, which she knew that nobody in the room spoke. Not even Jake knew what she said as she stormed out of the room, Sherry staying behind with a sigh.


	4. Chapter 4

Yuuki slammed her forearm against the door the washroom stall, having gone there to cool herself off before she murdered Jake.

Why did he infuriate her so much? His cocky attitude, that damn smirk, his stupid scar... _EVERYTHING_! Everything about him just pissed her off!

And to top it all off, why was he so fucking familiar?!

Yuuki leaned forward, putting her forehead against her arm, thinking as hard as she possibly could about where she could've seen Jake. Nothing came to mind.

"Fuck!" She snarled between her teeth, unlocking the stall and putting her hands onto the edge of the sink that was immediately in front of her.

Turning on the cold water, Yuuki allowed the stream to run for several seconds before using her Hydrokinesis to splash a small amount onto her face.

Of course, within seconds the water droplets were absorbed into her skin, so by the time she looked up at the mirror, her skin was already as dry as it was before she'd done that.

For several seconds, she maintained eye contact with herself. She knew she was almost identical to her mother in appearance, down to the last detail in fact. But, she had her father's distinctly solid icy blue eyes and his glittering silver hair. Oddly enough, Yuuki had attempted on many occasions to dye the hair a variety of colours, but without fail, her hair simply rejected the entire process. Her stubborn hair remained that same sparkling silver, just like her father's. And, like her father, her eyes had a permanent blue glow, giving her already bright eyes a very chilling look.

In addition to this, she dressed goth, which was apparently what her dad dressed like for many, many years of his life. At the moment, she was wearing a black bustier style corset, her favourite black leather bolero jacket, lacy black fingerless gloves, black leather pants and her signature knee high combat boots. Hanging from her hip were her keys on a chain connected to her studded leather belt. And of course, even though it was back in the class, her purse of choice was her black Coffin Case.

The sound of several girls entering the washroom suddenly broke Yuuki's reverie, and for a brief moment they gave her looks of scathing disgust before touching up their makeup and gossiping.

For whatever reason, younger female students didn't get along with Yuuki in the slightest. They unfortunately got it into their heads upon first seeing her that she was a punk or delinquent, rather than the proper term of goth that they should be using. Not only that, she wasn't a delinquent. She got good grades, and despite being anti-social, she was a respectable student to the teachers... Most of the time.

"Like, anyway, so I heard some girl's dad like, died or whatever on the weekend."

Yuuki's ears perked up as she manually splashed more water on her face by hand, then wiped away the water before they saw her skin absorb it.

"Oh my god, who told you? How did he die, like, was it on the news?" Another girl asked, still applying far too much lip gloss to her already pink lips.

"I heard he was some kind of cop or something." The third girl chimed in, brushing her cheeks with some blush.

"Yeah, like, anyway, so what I heard is from that Nivans boy in our English class that his older brother was like, in the guy's team thingy or whatever, so he like, died in a gun fight thing. Got blown up or something." The first girl explained, which made Yuuki suddenly laugh, causing the three girls to turn towards her in shock.

"Captain Tobias Darkwood, Biohazard Security Assessment Alliance, Alpha Squad Leader, North America Division. He was escorting refugees in Eastern Europe when him and his team were ambushed. While the team held off the attackers, he helped the refugees hide in a nearby house. Unfortunately the house was then set on fire from an incendiary airstrike, so he then rescued 39 of the 42 refugees before he himself died in the fire."

"Oh my god, the _thing_ can talk!" The second girl sneered, but Yuuki then tugged her dad's dogtags out from between her cleavage, hanging them over her thumb for the girls to see.

"You're talking about my father, so watch your fucking mouths, skanks." Yuuki snarled. "He wasn't a cop, he was a soldier, and he was a fucking hero."

"I'd have gone off to war if I had a freak like you for a kid! I wouldn't even fight, I'd just use my gun to kill myself out of shame!" The first girl mocked Yuuki, whose eyes narrowed.

"By the way, I've met Corporal Nivans. He was at my father's funeral on Saturday." Yuuki smirked as she marched out of the washroom with a proud air about her.

"What a freaking loser, carrying around her dad's army necklace things! Hahaha!" The girls all laughed, but they immediately regretted it when the sinks they were standing at suddenly burst, blasting cold water right into their face, making them scream in shock as Yuuki chuckled to herself from halfway down the hall.

* * *

"So do you mind telling me why I got a call from the principal about some pipes blasting water on some girls that said you were there with them in the bathroom?" Rize sat with a stern expression on her face the moment that Yuuki entered the front door.

"I swear to god, I wasn't directly involved in the way that you think, Mom." Yuuki held up her hands innocently. It was true, she didn't directly cause the pipes in the bathroom to malfunction like that. It was a case of 'wrong place, wrong time'.

"But you were there, were you not?" Rize raised an eyebrow. Yuuki nodded. "So I take it the pipes burst after you left the room, and were out of the way?"

"Mom! I didn't break the pipes!" Yuuki spoke vehemently. "I left the bathroom, and I got halfway down the hall when I heard the three of them start screaming. I had no idea what happened until the rumours started going around that a pipe broke in that bathroom."

"I don't believe you." Rize crossed her arms sternly. "You got into a fight with those girls and used your Hydrokinesis to intentionally spray them with water."

"Y'know, I'd love to be as vindictive as that, but I'm not. Yeah, we argued. But that's it. I said my bit, they said theirs, I left, then they start screaming about the water. I. Didn't. Fucking. Do. It." Yuuki was getting pissed. Why didn't her mother believe her?!

"I believe her." Alice spoke up suddenly, making Yuuki spin around to find her grandmother in the front door behind her. "You're on the parent council, right, Rize? When was the last time the school had any sort of maintenance related topic come up at the meetings?" Alice pointedly raised an eyebrow as she regarded her daughter.

"I see your point, Alice." Rize conceded defeat, sighing slightly before collecting herself. "Coffee?"

"I'd love some." Alice smiled as Yuuki walked up to her room in a huff. "By the way, how often does she hunt for flesh?"

"Three times a week." Rize replied. "Usually more when she's on her period. She's particularly ravenous at that time."

"You're one to talk. You would hunt ten times a week, minimum!" Alice teased her daughter with a cheerful smile.

"I'll have you know, I've cut back." Rize held up her index finger sternly. "Once per day, thank you very much. And I save the leftovers too!"

* * *

Upstairs, Yuuki tossed her backpack onto her desk chair before flopping down onto her bed, very drained from the exchange with her mother.

Once again, Alice and her flawless timing saved her ass. What did that fucking woman want from her? She still didn't exactly trust Alice, so where's the point in her doing all of that crap?

Turning her head towards her desk, Yuuki immediately realized that an unfamiliar wooden box was sitting on the surface. She quickly got up and approached it.

Raising an eyebrow, Yuuki slowly opened the lid, revealing a pair of unusual objects sitting inside the black felt lining.

The first was a large black combat knife in a sturdy sheath. After a moment, Yuuki realized it was the same metal as her necklace, Quinque Steel. She took out the weapon and immediately realized that the metal was very cold to the touch. That moment of cold instantly reminded her of her father, but the next object that was underneath made her eyes widen in shock.

Resting in the box was a Quinque Steel mask... a partial skull that covered the left eye and the bottom half on the face.


	5. Chapter 5

Yuuki stared at the mask in the box, unsure about the sinister incomplete design. For some reason, a chill was running up and down her spine as she stared at it. But, after a moment of internally conquering her fears, she slowly reached for the mask and lifted it out of the box.

Turning the metal around, Yuuki slowly brought it up to her face, finding herself hesitating for a moment before pursing her lips with determination and placing the mask over her face.

In an instant, she was flooded by the feeling of a lot of pain, sadness and anger linked to the mask, plus a disorienting mess of mental images passing through her head. With a shuddering gasp, she pulled it off her face and hurriedly placed it back in the box.

"Frost...bite?" Yuuki only managed to recall one small detail in that moment, a name.

She put her fingertips against her temple for a moment until the instinctive sensation of being watched made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Someone was right behind her.

Glancing at the small mirror on her dresser, she caught a horrifying glimpse of a full black skull masked figure in black clothing watching her through her balcony doors before it vanished in an instant.

Of course, she screamed, and in her panic, she sent the mask's box sliding out of sight along with the knife. The next second, her mom and grandmother were in the doorway, both looking worried.

"I... I just..." Yuuki tried to slow her racing heart. "I think I just saw dad..."

Alice and Rize shared a worried glance with each other. There was no way. Tobias was dead.

"Can you start from the beginning? What just happened?" Rize asked, pulling her daughter against her chest.

Yuuki explained everything, even collecting the box, mask and knife that had somehow appeared on her desk while she was at school. The moment Alice and Rize saw the two Quinque Steel objects they exchanged even more worried glances.

"Yuuki... These both belonged to your father." Rize slowly explained, sitting Yuuki down on the edge of her bed. "This was his second mask. It was designed to cover the burn on the left side of his face."

"What about his first one?" Yuuki asked, curious.

"His first one is mine now. He gave it to me years ago." Rize explained. "But he had a third one made after Alice died."

"He did?" Alice didn't know that fact. Rize nodded.

"He completed the full skull. It should still be in his gun safe."

"I swear to god, he was standing outside my window right after I tried to put the mask on." Yuuki was scared. There was no fucking way that her dad had survived the napalm strike during that ambush with the refugees.

"Alice, go check the gun safe. Combination's 39-42-95." Rize turned to her mother, who nodded and left the room.

"Mom, I'm not lying." Yuuki's chest was heaving as the thought of her dead dad's burnt corpse walking around crossed her mind.

"I know... Shhh, I know." Rize comforted her distraught daughter for several long, quiet minutes until Alice returned with a grim expression on her face.

"It's not there."

* * *

Rize couldn't believe what she was seeing. Tobias' full skull mask wasn't the only thing that was missing from the gun safe. Alice's old gun, the H&K USP.45 Match that had been nicknamed Silence was missing as well. All of his other weapons, Victory, Revenge, The Twins, Titan, Fenrir, The Beast, and even Executioner - the name given to his G36 assault rifle after he killed Wesker - were all still safe and sound. Of course, Rize's M93 Raffica was also there, but that was to be expected.

"I don't believe this..." Rize was shaking her head in disbelief. "He can't be alive. This is insane."

"All official BSAA autopsy records prove that Toby died from severe burns to 80% of his body and smoke inhalation. Even if he managed to avoid the smoke, the burns destroyed him." Alice explained, her hands on her hips.

"Mom, do you know where the second mask and his knife were usually kept?" Yuuki asked, since all evidence so far pointed to Tobias being alive.

"The knife was his. He always carried it with him. But the mask... I thought it had been destroyed when he made the full one. I never knew he'd kept it in the first place." Rize explained, stressed out by the whole ordeal.

"So that means he's trying to send a message to me." Yuuki realized something. "Because if that wasn't the case, he'd just walk in the front door like he'd just got home from the BSAA base."

"Hmmm... You might have a point. But what kind of point would he be trying to get across to you?" Alice tapped her chin thoughtfully. "This is completely different from the Toby that I know."

"Same as us." Rize added. "He hasn't particularly changed his thought processes very much since Umbrella."

"Hmph... Smoke must've gotten to his brain." Yuuki commented as she spun on her heel and left to retrieve the knife and mask, bringing them back to her mother and grandmother. "So, tell me... What in particular did dad accomplish with the knife and the mask?"

"A lot of things. That mask was the one he wore when he destroyed the Raccoon City CCG, his work as a hitman, designed the T-13's that the BSAA assault teams wear, and... killed me, even though he wasn't wearing it at that particular moment."

"So you're saying we don't know exactly what he wants yet." Yuuki's shoulders fell in disappointment. "What about the knife?"

"Only thing I know of is killing Amon Kotaro. But that's a dead end if I've seen one. Amon was not only CCG, but he was single, so there's no legacy after his death." Alice explained. "Unless there's something else in that box he put it in, we just have to wait until he makes his next move."

"Hang on, that's a good idea." Rize nodded to Yuuki for permission to retrieve the wooden box. When she came back with it, she placed it on the floor in front of the gunsafe and together they examined every possible inch and angle of the wood for half an hour, but found absolutely nothing.

"Cheeky prick, isn't he?" Alice joke dryly. "Sure sucks to be the brunt of his shenanigans."

"You're positive nothing else came with the mask and the knife?" Rize asked, and Yuuki nodded vigorously.

"Unless you count his creepy method of visiting, then yeah, that's everything." Yuuki truly loved her father, but that incident scared the ever living fuck out of her.

"Alright, Rize, don't change any passwords, codes, locks. Nothing. We need him to make another move so we can get his next clue, okay? And Yuuki, if you receive anything, he talks to you in any form, any sort of interaction, you call your mom right away. If you can't call her, you call me."

Yuuki took a steadying breath as she nodded. "I understand."

* * *

Jake Muller laid on his back, holding his phone in one hand while the other rested under his head. He was laying in the city park, enjoying the nice weather by himself when his phone suddenly rang.

One glance at the number made him scowl before raising the device to his head.

"What do you want, old man?" Jake spoke very curtly the man on the line.

"Is that any way to speak to your father, Jacob Wesker Muller?" The Austrian voice on the line replied coolly, making Jake scowl with barely suppressed disgust.


	6. Chapter 6

"So, tell me... Hypothetically, if I was invited to a party and I was able to bring a guest, would you join me?" Sherry asked as she wrote down some of the equations for their math homework.

"Depends on the party, honestly." Yuuki replied. "I don't really like being... y'know... SOCIAL." She was laying on her stomach, tapping at her calculator.

"Well..." Sherry stopped writing and coyly crawled over Yuuki's back, kissing the back of her neck before whispering. "Ashley Graham invited me to her party on Saturday and said I could bring one person with me."

"Ashley, huh?" Yuuki gave a pleased hum as she felt Sherry's warm kiss on the back of her tingling neck. "So it's gonna be a house party."

"Please~?" Sherry kept up her neck kisses, still being coy and seductive. "I promise, if she even says one word about your dad, I'll knock her out myself."

"Now you're just trying to get me excited." Yuuki sinuously twisted herself around to face her girlfriend.

"Am I succeeding?" Sherry smiled as Yuuki gave her a kiss and pulled her down on top of her.

"Does that answer your question?" Yuuki asked, grabbing a healthy handful of both of Sherry's ass cheeks, one in each hand.

For several minutes, the two girls passionately made out with each other, groping and petting each other as they invaded each other's mouths with their tongues. Sherry especially loved to run her tongue along Yuuki's sharp mutated back teeth, but in particular, her elongated fangs were her favourite.

"Having fun?"

Both Sherry and Yuuki nearly bolted out of their skins, and in fact, Yuuki involuntarily activated her Scale Mail in panic as the sound of her laughing aunt reached her ears.

"MISHKA!" Yuuki's scales returned to normal as she glared at the woman in the doorway. "DO YOU MIND?!"

"You two need to work on your foreplay... Just saying." Tabitha teased. "So, your mom's going hunting, and she told me to keep an eye on you. But... since you two are occupied, I think I might indulge myself on a certain someone..." Tabitha's arm whipped out and seemed to materialize her fiance, Hinami, almost out of thin air.

"I can't tell who's more insatiable... You or Rize." Hinami shook her head with a sigh. "Her and her food or you with your sex."

"Doesn't matter, I still get to tap that." Tabitha shamelessly groped Hinami's sizable rear, causing the brunette to yelp in surprise.

"Can't you see we're a bit busy?" Yuuki frowned at the second pair of lesbians in the room.

"With what? Your homework or your terrible foreplay?" Tabitha teased, but Yuuki grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at her aunt.

Of course, being the offspring of a Koukaku Ghoul, she had no chance in hell of actually hitting Tabitha, the infamous Thunderbird.

" _LEAVE_!"

Tabitha smirked as she tossed the pillow back into the room and closed the door, pulling Hinami along with her by the hip.

Yuuki was brick red in the face, but after a moment, Sherry gently kissed her again with a smile tugging at her lips. "I think your foreplay is excellent. How's mine?"

"Fucking fabulous." Yuuki grinned before pouncing on top of her. "So what are you waiting for?"

"So does this mean you're coming to the party?" Sherry asked, her expression hopeful as Yuuki licked her earlobe and the side of her neck.

"Depends on whether or not either of us can walk after this." Yuuki replied as she snaked her fingers up Sherry's shirt.

* * *

On the day of the party, Yuuki arrived with Sherry at Ashley Graham's large house overlooking the ocean. Of course, Rize knew she was there - and thanks to being a Ghoul, she couldn't partake in alcohol - so the idea of her anti-social daughter going to a party was actually rather welcomed in her mind.

"Remember your promise." Yuuki reminded Sherry in Russian, to which the blonde nodded quietly just as Ashley Graham to greet them.

"So, you brought Darkwood, eh, Birkin?" Ashley seemed surprised. "What did it take to get her off her surfboard and to come on land?"

"Need I remind you that I've cliff jumped from much higher places than what your place has to offer?" Yuuki countered. It was true, she was an avid surfer - just like most of the population of Los Angeles, where they lived - but she actually just loved all aquatic activity.

"It took a lot, we'll leave it at that." Sherry brushed off the scathing comments with a wave of her hand. "So, lead the way."

Ashley nodded respectfully, then lead the two girls to the back of her place where the party itself was centered.

Like most of LA, Ashley's place had a pool - despite being literally placed thirty feet from a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean - so the music and the mass of fellow high school students were gathered around the oval shaped pool.

"I'm not going to do it." Yuuki commented in Russian. "Might sound surprising, but I'm staying out of the water for once."

"Scales?" Sherry knew Yuuki's reasoning as she replied in Russian. "Or too many people for your liking?"

" _Both_."

* * *

A few hours into the party, as the sun was considering the idea of setting, Ashley's father came out with the announcement that pizza was being delivered for them to eat, and he was taking orders.

Yuuki immediately scowled. She couldn't eat human food, a hard truth that she'd known her whole life. She was a Ghoul, she ate human flesh, drank coffee and water, and steered clear of human fare if she could help it.

"Also, is Yuuki Darkwood here?" Her father called over the clamoring teens. She of course immediately looked up and he beckoned for her to come over. "Your mother's on the phone."

Yuuki's eyes immediately widened in fear. What reason did Rize have for calling Ashley's home line when Yuuki had her cellphone on her? Regardless, she followed Ashley's dad into the house and into the quiet kitchen.

"Just a cover story, so I can talk to you in private." He explained, placing his list of pizza toppings on the counter. "But, your mother did explain your... special diet."

"Oh fuck..." Yuuki immediately scowled, going on the defensive.

"Relax. I'm actually sympathetic to Ghouls. But, I'm sure you understand that we cannot allow you to eat any of us here." He offered his hand for her to shake. "However, you do understand that you're on your own for a meal, yes?"

"Don't worry, I've got a backup plan." Yuuki replied, taking the older man's hand and giving it a firm shake. "You don't have to worry about that."

"Excellent. Now, have fun at my daughter's party." He smiled warmly as he got his cellphone out and began to dial the pizzeria for the massive order of forty teenagers.

Yuuki left him to it, returning to Sherry and whispering in Russian. " _Shark bait_."

Sherry immediately nodded in understanding. 'Shark bait' was their private code word for a very... personal interaction between them.

Despite her G-Virus, Sherry was biologically human. But, because of her G-Virus, she regenerated so quickly that in dire circumstances like this, she and Yuuki had an agreement that Yuuki could eat from her body. It was very rare, but it happened enough for it to not be a big deal. And, thankfully, Sherry's G-Virus didn't interfere with Yuuki's T-Virus since the G was actually based from the T. It was honestly a very lucky coincidence overall.

"Whenever you're ready." Yuuki added in Russian before wandering away like they weren't planning anything cannibalistic in the slightest.

"Thank god I wore such casual clothing." Sherry commented to herself in Russian as her hungry girlfriend disappeared into the crowd.

"I'm surprised that Darkwood can withstand all that damn black leather. She must be some sort of freak to be wearing that in 80 degree heat." A male voice suddenly spoke up behind her in Russian, making Sherry spin around in surprise to see Jake Muller standing with a bottle of Mountain Dew in his hand.

"Jake? What are you doing here?!" Sherry switched back to English as the redhead sat down in Yuuki's former seat.

"Ashley invited me... I just got here." Jake replied, twisting the cap from his Dew and knocking some back. "So what did you mean by your comment about wearing casual clothes?"

"I was thinking the same thing you did about Yuuki. I started sweating when I realized she's still wearing her corset and her jacket." Sherry quickly lied, not willing to admit that she was internally preparing herself to let her hungry bioweapon girlfriend tear apart her flesh.

"I see." Jake didn't seem to believe her, but said nothing else as he suddenly walked away, almost instantly greeted by several guys from his classes.

Sherry took a deep breath and followed the faint scent of the T-Virus that Yuuki gave off. She was ready now.

After following Yuuki's scent down to the nearby beach, she found Yuuki standing at the very edge of the water. There wasn't another soul in sight, and the setting sun made the image oddly romantic.

"How'd you find me so quickly? My scent?" Yuuki looked over her shoulder to see Sherry approaching.

"Yeah, didn't you inherit an enhanced sense from your parents?" Sherry was actually well versed in Ghoul anatomy, since she'd spoken to Yuuki's father, Tobias, about it one day about two years earlier after her and Yuuki first came out to their parents as lesbians - and a couple. She knew for a fact that her father's sense of hearing bordered on legendary, and her mother's sense of taste almost acted like a second nose. Her uncle had amazing eyesight, and her aunt had highly sensitive skin.

"I got skin sensitivity... and my hearing, too, I guess." Yuuki admitted. "Scent's not exactly useful underwater compared to being able to sense the vibrations that travel through the water."

"Well, that makes sense." Sherry immediately smiled at her unintentional pun before walking up to Yuuki and kissing her lovingly. "I'm sorry, that was bad."

"I've heard worse." Yuuki admitted, then gently scraped her fangs along Sherry's collarbone. "Is your shoulder alright this time?"

"Go for it, I'm ready." Sherry had her own little process for this, so she relaxed every muscle in her arm and neck, which made the piece of flesh that Yuuki tore off easier to eat, while at the same time lessened the pain.

"Itadakimasu."

Yuuki's eyes immediately turned over to her Kakugan - two, unlike her father's one - and she inhaled sharply before latching her jaw onto Sherry's upper arm and tore off a delicious chunk of flesh.

* * *

 **A/N: I've come to notice that Yuuki's not well liked in this story. Need I remind you that she's a fifteen year old girl that doesn't really like most people - not to mention her father was recently killed overseas fighting the remnants of Umbrella, only to also find that her supposedly dead grandmother's alive, sassy and quite healthy.**

 **So do me a solid and give her a chance instead of instantly saying she's to mouthy and you want to slap her.**


	7. Chapter 7

Yuuki hadn't even finished chewing when Sherry's arm completely regenerated itself. However, one piece wasn't actually enough, so after swallowing the invigorating mouthful, Yuuki repeated the process on the same spot two more times, then swallowed the final one and gently pressed her forehead against Sherry's.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Sherry took a steadying breath then tested her arm. It was fine, unsurprisingly. They both knew that she regenerated her flesh even faster than Rize or Kaneki, who were notoriously fast-healing Rinkaku Ghouls before receiving the even faster regenerative powers from the T-Virus. Honestly, it bordered on near instant.

"Let's head back, okay? Don't want Ashley making up some cock and bull rumours, do we?" Yuuki gently kissed Sherry before leading her by the hand all the way back to Ashley's party.

Neither of them noticed a tall figure in black standing motionless down the beach.

* * *

After the pizza feast, Ashley's dad asked if they all wanted to go down to the beach - where Yuuki and Sherry had been earlier - for a bonfire to finish off the party. Of course, everyone agreed.

So, forty high school students trudged down the narrow path that brought them to the beach, then they gathered enough driftwood for the fire and gathered around it as Ashley's dad got to work lighting it.

Yuuki wasn't one for sitting near the front of anything, but even from the back of the group, she took a few steps away from the fire. She didn't want to get herself dehydrated from the bonfire's heat.

Sherry, of course, caught the subtle movements and pulled Yuuki close to her, leading her around the group of students and walking down the beach together, each with an arm around the other's hip.

"The break here sucks." Yuuki commented, noticing that the waves coming in were very lackluster, at best. "Too bad I couldn't go for a swim when I had the chance."

"Next time we get a chance, okay?" Sherry smiled. The ocean was particularily special to Yuuki, but it was also her Achilles heel. Because of her Hydrokinesis, Yuuki's body suffered severely in high heat, low humidity conditions, such as near fires - and her mother, ironically - and going too far inland reduced the amount of hydration she took in, thus weakening her slowly but surely. The public excuse for it was that Yuuki suffered from asthma, and she even had a fake inhaler in her pocket whenever she went out and expected to go somewhere dry or hot.

"Well, we're done our homework, so I doubt my mom would try to stop me from surfing tomorrow." Yuuki shrugged. "Unless you want to go diving with me again."

"Ooooh, that sounds like fun." Jake suddenly commented from behind them in a very cheeky tone. "Mind if I tag along?"

"Fuck off, Muller. Ruining the moment." Yuuki looked over her shoulder to see him standing there with a smirk on his face.

"Look, I've heard that you're a huge aqua girl. Honestly, I have my doubts considering how you act and dress." Jake commented, drinking more of his Mountain Dew from earlier. It was almost empty by now.

"You just want to see me in a bikini, smartass." Yuuki scowled. "Get in line, almost all of the guys in my classes want that privilege."

"What if I told you that's not what I want?" Jake raised an eyebrow. "What if I told you I actually have no ulterior motives and honestly want to join you two for something... y'know, fun?"

"You're saying this party sucked, aren't you?" Sherry caught onto his hidden meaning.

"Honestly, I've been to better ones. But, I do like the idea of doing some diving. So, Darkwood, what'll it be? You gonna object if I join you two tomorrow?" Jake asked as he finished off the bottle - and in a very surprising twist - shoved it into his leg pocket, rather than throwing it onto the sand.

"Yuuki...?" Sherry glanced at the slightly taller goth that was scowling at the redhead's request.

"Another time, Muller. I was kinda trying to plan a date, in case you haven't figure it out yet." Yuuki glanced pointedly towards Sherry. "You feel me?"

"I get it." Jake nodded in understanding. "But I'm holding you to that one, Darkwood."

With that, he turned and walked back to the bonfire without another word.

"For such a young man... He's rather thoughtful, if I say so myself."

Yuuki's blood ran cold at the sound of that voice. Even Sherry was frozen in panic, unable to muster the willpower to turn around to look.

"I've already had that chat with you, Yuki-onna. I know you're a responsible girl, so I'm not worried about the two of you doing something stupid."

"Why did you give me your knife... Dad?" Yuuki suddenly spoke in Japanese, her lower lip quivering.

"You'll understand everything in time... But the knife is for you, as a means to defend yourself. I figured that one of my guns would be taken out of context, since only me and your mother are supposed to have access to my gun safe." Tobias' voice was amused as he replied in Japanese as well. "Promise me that you'll carry it on you, no matter what."

"I promise." Yuuki felt a tear in her eye. "You're gonna leave now, aren't you?"

"I'll be back... _I promise_. There's just something I need to do, on my own. I know that you understand." Tobias sighed to himself, resisting the intense urge to put his hand onto his daughter's shoulder reassuringly. But he didn't do it, and launched up into the air with his Telekinesis, vanishing from sight behind a cloud.

Yuuki knew he was gone before she even turned around. Sherry was dumbstruck by the sudden appearance of Yuuki's supposedly dead father.

Yuuki's legs suddenly gave out from beneath her as she began to cry.

* * *

"Alright, thank you for telling me, Yuuki. Are you alright enough to ride your bike home, or should I come pick up two up? Are you sure? Okay, drive safe. We'll be waiting for you... Do svidaniya."

Alice hung up the phone, looking up at Rize with a sigh.

"He visited her, in person."

Rize let out the breath that she'd been holding in. Somehow that wasn't as bad as she'd been dreading. It initially sounded like Yuuki got herself badly injured.

"Yuuki said that someone named Sherry was with her when Toby seemed to come out of absolutely no where to speak to them from behind them. She said they were both too scared to turn around when he started talking." Alice explained what her terrified granddaughter had told her over the phone.

"Sherry Birkin, that's her girlfriend." Rize explained before furrowing her brow. "Did she say exactly what Toby talked to her about?"

"No, she said she'd do that in person." Alice replied. "But that means he's been keeping an eye on her... and the grave is empty."

"You're one to talk." Rize raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised Toby hasn't realized you're still alive and done something about it."

"You have a point, but by the looks of things, he's doing something very important, so much so that MAYBE he had to fake his own death to do it." Alice suggested. She still had her maternal instincts about her, but her age old Mom Instincts were telling her that her son had his mind set on something very, very important. The question was... what the fuck was it?

"You think this is all an off-record BSAA operation?" Rize asked, looking up at her mother in surprise.

"Until he gives us another hint, I can't say that for certain." Alice shook her head, dejected. "By the way, does Toby have a particular nickname for Yuuki?"

"He calls her his little Yuki-onna." Rize nodded. "She's our little Snow Fairy."

* * *

Yuuki and Sherry explained everything they could remember about speaking to Tobias, and by the end of it, they were so mentally fried that Rize called Sherry's parents to inform them that she'd be staying the night. Of course, since the families were on good terms, the news was accepted without incident.

Rize sent the girls to bed, and waited until Yuuki's door closed before turning to her mother to discuss the exchange between father and daughter.

"So what are your thoughts, mom?" Rize asked, leaning back on the couch.

"He's watching over her, for sure. And by the sounds of it, he doesn't approve of that Jake Muller boy." Alice started. "And I can't help but shake the feeling that my theory stands. He's gone off the grid to investigate something big. But, I know my son, and he never breaks his promises."

"So that means...?" Rize asked, raising her eyebrow out of concern.

"It means we need his next clue before we can do jack shit." Alice replied grimly. "I'm gonna look into some stuff over at the BSAA base, see what I can dig up concerning the events in Eastern Europe."

"I'll have a look into that Jake boy, who knows what the other moms might know?" Rize nodded. "So, should I allow her to carry the knife?"

"Yes, you should also teach her how to use it. I know you still have those swords that Toby gave you before I died." Alice nodded.

"I also still have my T-12, and you saw my Raffica in the gunsafe." Rize smirked in reply.


	8. Chapter 8

Yuuki slowly opened her eyes, blinking several times to clear her vision. She was laying on her back in bed, and judging by the warm weight on her left arm, Sherry had somehow managed to make her arm into a pillow at some point last night.

Yuuki quickly got herself out from under Sherry and opened her balcony doors, leaning her forearms on the railing as she inhaled the scent of the ocean. Like Ashley's house, hers was on the coast. However, her pool was indoor, and it was because of her Scale Mail's irreversible trait of activating while she was in the water.

"What are you doing... dad?" Yuuki spoke quietly to herself, thinking about the strange visit from her father.

"M'rnin'..." Sherry slowly ambled up behind Yuuki and found surprising amusement in tracing her fingers along Yuuki's back tattoo that wasn't covered by her tank top.

Her entire back was dominated by an intricate networking silver spiderweb tattoo, which also had two distinct sections that continued around her hips and down very intimately low towards her pelvis. In addition to that, two more sections of the web came around her ribs and tastefully accented her C-cup bust by ending just below each of her breasts. Right in the center of her back, taking up a substantial amount of space was a red tribal spider, and on each shoulder blade - standing out drastically compared to the spider and the webs - was a black tribal flame on the left one, and a white snowflake on the right. The whole ensemble had been done for her - after months of convincing her parents - by Aunty Sere about six months earlier.

"You ready to go diving, or should we hold off until a bit later?" Yuuki asked, humming with satisfaction as Sherry's fingers traced along her ribs and around to the webbing under her boobs.

"Later..." Sherry smiled mischievously as she traced her right hand along Yuuki's toned muscular stomach while her left began to caress and tease Yuuki's left breast from under her arm. "I'm having fun right here."

Yuuki cooed softly as Sherry continued to tease her skin, letting her head fall back for a moment as she closed her eyes.

Suddenly her eyes shot open and her head snapped forward. She scowled as she detected the faint but distinctive sound of a camera snapping pictures. The next second, there was a rustle from the back of the garden below, and Yuuki vaulted over the railing and thudded to the ground below.

In a matter of seconds, she had a sleazy looking man pinned against the rear fence, his neck and pockets overloaded with cameras of various makes and sizes.

"If you want to live, I suggest you start with why you're taking pictures of a fifteen year old pair of girls at seven in the morning you fucking creep."

"You don't scare me, brat. I've got the story of the month, and you can't stop me from doing my job." The guy sneered, having been caught by Yuuki as he was climbing over the fence that lead to the neighbouring property.

"Oh? Enlighten me on this so called story. Because all I see is a fat faggot taking pictures of a pair of teenage girls without their knowledge. That's called pedophilia, by the way." Yuuki tightened her grip on the man's vest collar.

"I know who you are, and I know who your parents really are, Darkwood. And those pictures of you and the clingy blonde are just an added bonus for the gossip tabloids."

"She's not clingy." Yuuki sneered at the man, flashing her fangs without realizing it. "So stop avoiding the question. What the fuck is this so called story you've got?"

"I don't have to tell you fucking shit. So be a good little girl and back off, I can have you charged with assault."

"Actually, under these circumstances, I have the legal grounds to charge you with trespassing, slander, and given our ages, you're going to be in illegal posession of child pornography." Yuuki leaned close to his ear and whispered. "I win here, so hand it over. I'm not going to ask you again."

"Too late, bitch! Pictures are already sent to my boss!" The man laughed, holding up his phone that clearly showed the sent images had been received by the other person.

With that, Yuuki's blood began to boil to the limit. She grabbed each and every single camera from the man and crushed them into scrap parts with her bare hands, just as Rize slowly approached from behind, holding Revenge in her hands.

"MY CAMERAS!"

"WOULD YOU RATHER I KEPT THEM AND FUCKING TORE OUT YOUR BEATING HEART, ASSHOLE?!" Yuuki yelled at the man, but both of them froze as Rize pumped the Marine Magnum, clearing her throat pointedly at the same time.

"Yuuki... Go back inside. I'll handle the rest." Rize spoke very calmly and quietly - which was a bad sign - to her daughter, who got only one moment to get her last two cents in, but decided to punch the sleazy reporter in the balls before stomping away.

* * *

Yuuki and Sherry were just about to leave her house when the LAPD showed up with an unmarked black car that just oozed the image of government. Of course, the officers were here for the reported gunshot... but why the Feds?

"Ladies, you are to return to back into the premises immediately." The first of the four government agents that stepped out of the black car forced himself between the teens and Yuuki's nearby bike - which was her dad's old Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R.

"Bite me, Fed." Yuuki immediately snarled. She was NOT in the mood for any of this crap. "We're leaving, so I suggest you move while you still can." Despite Tobias teaching her to respect the police, BSAA and people in obvious authority, he never said anything about the government.

"I can have you laid up on charges of threatening a government official. Return to the premises right now, or I will use force."

"You have three seconds before I put you on the ground." Yuuki countered, gently pushing Sherry behind her with one hand. "And your goons too, bastard."

"You are in violat..." The man tried to grab her by the shoulder, but the next thing that happened was the man being bodily thrown into his three companions while the nearby LAPD smiled and laughed.

"Have a good day at the beach, Yuuki." Both of the officers knew her, so they nodded at her as she and Sherry straddled her bike and she started the engine.

"Mom's out back, she can brief you on the incident, officers." Yuuki replied as she snapped her helmet visor closed. "How's the waves today?"

"Not sure, I haven't been out today." They replied before the teens left, pointedly crushing the federal agent's fingers with her foot as she passed.

* * *

Yuuki pulled her bike to a halt at the beach, pulling her helmet off as Sherry did the same behind her.

"Who were those government agents?" Sherry had been worried about what Yuuki did to them the whole ride to the beach.

"They weren't anyone that Mom or Dad usually deal with. And even then, they were far too forceful. They didn't even state who they were with, like the Secret Service or FBI."

"I get the feeling that they're CIA, in that case." Sherry voiced her thoughts as they got off the bike and headed to Santa Monica Pier.

"What makes you say that?" Yuuki asked, adjusting the strap of her bikini under her t-shirt's neckline.

"My dad has to deal with them a lot." Sherry replied quietly. "They're constantly surveying him and making sure he doesn't go back to his old Umbrella ways."

"It's been twelve years since Umbrella finally crumbled, but seems like some people are still scared of them." Yuuki spoke bitterly. Of course, thanks to the political might of the BSAA, she had a bit of an odd reprieve from that fear...

Her family were considered celebrities, including her.

Somehow, they had achieved explosive popularity amongst the population of the world as 'The family with the T-Virus!'. In fact, starting about a year and a half earlier, there was a reality TV show centered on the family, called Darkwood. The studio that provided the camera crew had been informed of Tobias' death, and in a rather surprising display of tact, they decided to put the show on a temporary hiatus until the family were willing to make a final decision regarding continuing or even cancelling the show.

Only problem was that it didn't stop the media.

It had initially caused a huge clusterfuck of paparazzi to swarm Yuuki, Kaneki, Rize and Serenity, but eventually they started being sneaky, trying to give everyone their much needed doses of the Darkwoods.

Of course, like the murder of crows they are, the paparazzi frequented each of the Darkwood's respective hangouts; Rize stayed at home, for the most part. Yuuki frequented the beach and Santa Monica Pier. Kaneki was hounded at work, and Serenity - who was also famous for her artwork - made things crystal clear that she wouldn't respond to personal questions any more by tearing one particular reporter's penis off with her bare hands, then proceeded to use it as the centerpiece in an art piece entitled 'Personal'.

With that, Yuuki kept a sharp eye on the tourists and the locals on the pier. She had Sherry's fingers interlocked with her own as they made their way down to the very end of the pier, but her glowing blue gaze locked onto every single phone and camera being even remotely pointed in her direction.

In her head, she was counting down the number of yards until they reached the end of the pier.

When the pair finally reached the end of the pier, it was only a handful of fisherman dotting the railing and a group of kids running around in the immediate area.

"Ready, Sherry?" Yuuki commented, pulling a key out of her Coffin Case and approaching a belongings lockup that was in the employ of an old family friend, Touka Kirishima.

"Yo, Touka, you chase off any of the good looking babes for having bigger tits than you?" Yuuki teased the perpetually blue haired woman with a huge smile on her face.

"You punch anyone out yourself, hothead?" Touka countered immediately. "I haven't seen much today, and only two reporters came in here to harrass me about when you'd be showing up."

"I kicked some ass just leaving my place." Yuuki held up her hands, acting like it was a daily occurrence for her to throw an 180 pound man into three of his companions.

"So you're not surfing today, huh?" Touka noticed that Sherry was with her. "Hey, Sherry. How you been?"

"I've been good." Sherry nodded in reply. "We're going diving today."

"Air tanks are in your usual locker." Touka gestured towards the largest locker located right behind her back - which was a security measure put in place after some paparazzi lockpicked her old one when it was tucked away in the back of the lockup.

With that, the two teens got to work peeling off their light outerwear while they chatted with the Japanese woman. Once they were both in their bikinis, Yuuki got to work helping Sherry don the very vital Rebreather scuba gear. Of course, she didn't need it herself since she could breathe underwater - she had hidden gills in her neck - without the gear. She could also talk perfectly underwater as well, instead of being a garbled mass of bubbles.

After everything was shoved into the locker and the lock was clicked closed, Yuuki and Sherry quickly moved out with a wave, heading to the railing, which immediately drew the eyes of numerous tourists and locals alike. For the most part, they recognized the spiderweb tattoo, and immediately whipped out phones or cameras to take a picture of the famous teenage bioweapon.

Sherry hauled herself onto the edge of the railing, turning to see that Yuuki as about ten feet back, not moving.

Since she had the mouthpiece in her mouth, she could ask Yuuki what was wrong. But it didn't matter as Yuuki sprinted straight towards the railing and jumped spectacularly over ten feet into the air, acrobatically flipping three times before flawlessly driving headfirst into the Pacific Ocean.

Sherry quickly followed suit, but instead dropping like a stone to pencil dive.

The first thing she saw when the bubbles disappeared was Yuuki in her full Scale Mail, smiling at her.

"You take the lead today. I'll be right beside you." Yuuki's voice came clearly through the water, and Sherry nodded before swimming away from the massive pier.

* * *

"Mrs. Darkwood, you do realize that your daughter has commited a felony against a government agent, in her refusal to remain here for questioning." The scowling federal agent glared at Rize, who was still boldly holding Revenge over her shoulder with a very displeased expression on her face.

"Don't start that crap with me. You used force on her, and she responded in kind. You should be thankful she only threw you. I've made it clear since she was a child that her father's firearms are not to be touched, under any circumstances." Rize tapped her index finger against the side of the trigger guard pointedly. "Now, state which government agency you're affiliated with, or I'll use force of my own." Her eyes started glowing red as she spoke, denoting her threat.

"Central Intelligence Agency." The lead man replied. "It concerns your late husband."

"If it's about Toby, then why were you harassing my daughter?" Rize glared at the man. Toby had dealt with the CIA before on a number of cases for the BSAA, but they were on good terms with the spy agency, even as a family.

"Classified. I cannot say." The man replied in a very smug tone.

"Then I'll speak with your department director myself. Get off my property, and if you so much as take one look at my daughter, we will not hesitate to turn you into tomorrow's dinner." Rize knew almost instantly that these men weren't really with the CIA. A question like that was never classified. She leveled the shotgun and pumped a shell into the chamber.

"You're making a grave mistake... Mrs. Darkwood." The man scowled lividly as he gestured for the men behind him to leave. "I hope you're aware of that fact."

"You fucked up the moment you got here, so I guess that puts us on an even playing field." Rize brought the weapon to her shoulder and directed it at the man's face, the barrel only inches away from his nose.

With a cocky smirk, the man joined his goons and left without another word. The moment he was inside the car, he turned to one of the goons and said, "We're going fishing."


	9. Chapter 9

Hours had passed by the time Sherry signaled to Yuuki that she was running out of time for her Rebreather. Yuuki came rocketing over to her and checked the gauge herself before nodding.

"We're too far out for a surface swim, let's swim as far as we can back to shore before we surface, okay?" Yuuki pointed in the direction of the shore.

Sherry nodded, since she wholeheartedly trusted Yuuki's judgement regarding the ocean. On land... Not quite so much. They were still working on that.

They began to swim back, still roughly thirty feet below the surface. Not long after, a boat passed over their heads, and judging by the mass of splashes and incoming vibrations, Yuuki could tell it was a civilian diving group. She wasn't overly concerned until the blast.

It was instantaneous, all of her senses were essentially scrambled from the concussion grenades that lazily sank below the surface. Yuuki's head was pounding and her vision was blurry, but for the briefest second, she caught sight of Sherry already shrugging off the effects and turning towards her stunned Hydrokinetic girlfriend.

Sherry could only watch in horror as two divers came out of no where from behind Yuuki's stunned form, one was directing a harpoon gun at her, and she immediately held up her hands as the other one grabbed Yuuki around the waist and dragged her to the surface, unable to defend herself thanks to the disoriented and semi-conscious state she was in.

The second that Yuuki's head broke the surface, her gills sealed themselves reflexively, and she gasped for breath, which luckily brought her back to full alertness after the grenades fucked with her head.

In an instant, she twisted herself around to come face to face with a diver wearing all black. They locked eyes for a moment before Yuuki's hand impaled itself into the man's gut, aided by her short claws and lack of water resistance. She moved as easily in water as she did on land, and nobody expected her increased agility in water like that.

Suddenly she detected the sound of men shouting from a boat, and she instantly dove beneath the surface, passing through the dying man's cloud of blood to find another diver aiming a harpoon gun at Sherry.

In an instant, the man's mouth and lungs began to fill with water as Yuuki slicing his air tube with her claws. She then wrenched the harpoon gun from his hands and rabbit punched his mask, shattering it instantly.

"Sherry, stay below the surface! Wait for me to come back for you! If they try anything, swim as fast as you can back to shore, I'll hold them off and give you a strong current to ride, okay?" Yuuki instantly swam back to her frightened girlfriend. "Trust me, I'll be alright, you're running out of air, and you need to go!"

Sherry held up ten fingers, meaning she only had ten minutes of air left.

"More than enough time." Yuuki smirked as a passing shark caught her attention, obviously drawn in by the blood. "Trust me, okay?"

Sherry nodded, unaware that Yuuki could communicate with sea life. The next thing she knew, a large creature nudged her back and she turned to see a shark right beside her.

"I'm offering a trade with her. She brings you back to shore in exchange for the assholes attacking us. Grab her dorsal fin, I'll finish up here and return to shore, okay?"

Sherry nodded and followed the instructions, gripping the shark by the dorsal fin and leaving the area.

Yuuki immediately detected the splash of more grenades, so she shot straight up and flew several feet out of the water, lining up the harpoon gun with one of the men on the boat that was staring at her in surprise.

With a lethal whistling sound, the harpoon whizzed through the air and straight through the man's forehead. She kept her trajectory lined up with the boat and landed on the back where the men had a box of the grenades open. The box had a very unsettling symbol on the surface...

"Umbrella?!" Yuuki commented to herself as one more man came out of the front of the small boat, brandishing a pistol. "What the fuck are you doing? Umbrella's long gone, retard!"

"Oh that's where you're wrong, fish freak. Our Chairman is still alive, so that means we, of Neo-Umbrella are more than alive!" The man raised the gun, unaware of the fact that not only was Yuuki in full Scale Mail - which was almost immune to even the mighty M500 Magnum's insane firepower - but she was a mere two feet away from her Hydrokinesis' version of a nuclear reactor...

The Pacific Ocean.

With a massive surge to the side, the small boat was instantly swamped by a wave created by Yuuki as she spectacularly dove towards the man and grabbed the gun from the deck, spinning around and aiming it at him as he coughed on the saltwater.

"You're not experienced with firearms, brat. The gun's still got the safety in place." The man produced a knife, unaware that it was more of Yuuki's territory - she had her dad's combat knife strapped to her right calf at that very moment.

"I don't give a fuck about guns." She tossed the pistol aside and lifted her leg to unsheath her own knife. "They're kinda useless underwater."

He lunged for her, but his measly steel dive knife instantly glance off her Scale Mail, making him loose his balance and open himself up for a counter-attack from Yuuki.

With a quick motion, she impaled the man through the ribs under his arm, piercing his lung with the massive nine inch weapon. But she then twisted it and ripped it out, causing further damage to the man's ribs themselves. Next, she slammed her armoured knee into the man's groin and bodily threw him overboard.

"By the way, I made an agreement with a Great White before I came to the surface. You and your goons were my offering to her." Yuuki slid her knife back into her sheath and grabbed the man's gun, finding the unfamiliar weapon rather appealing. After a moment, she found the name of the weapon, an FN Five Seven.

Tossing the gun back down, Yuuki winked cheekily at the now frantic man as she dove over the side and shot away towards shore, leaving the bleeding man to his guaranteed shark mauling.

* * *

Only thirty seconds after her departure, Tobias came descending from his Telekinetic flight to lightly land on the boat, which had yet to be swarmed by the shark. He already had some evidence to work with, but he took out his phone and snapped a few pictures of the various Neo-Umbrella logos and even the Five Seven that Yuuki had tossed aside.

 _"YOU!"_

Tobias turned to see the wounded goon struggling to stem the blood from his wound.

"You must have seriously pissed my daughter off if she left you for the sharks." Tobias shook his head grimly. "I wouldn't help you, even if I was a good person. You probably deserved it."

"You're supposed to be dead!"

"Funny thing, death." Tobias commented with a smirk. "Doesn't always do his job, the lazy bastard." He was subtly recording the audio of their chat, in case the guy said anything incriminating.

"We know your weakness to fire, and we set up an absolute inferno, just to kill you alone!" The man snarled, unaware that the shark had returned and was approaching him from behind with the dorsal fin sticking out of the water.

"You didn't take into account that I have my mother's T-Cells in my body, which negates my previous weakness to fire and heat." Tobias smiled, and it was at that moment the goon realized that Tobias' face wasn't burned like the pictures he'd seen when he joined Neo-Umbrella. "I'm still as bulletproof as always, but her Cells enhanced my regeneration as well, so I'm even scarier than that shark that's right behind you."

The man didn't even have enough time to scream as the jaws of the Great White broke through the water in a terrifying splash of blood and teeth.


	10. Chapter 10

Sherry quickly hauled herself onto the beach, working quickly to get out of the Rebreather and breathed in the fresh air instead of her recycled air.

After she was clear of the water itself, she sat down on a convenient flat rock to stare off into the distance where the boat of their attackers was but a tiny pinprick.

As she stared, she could've sworn she spotted a black object drop from the sky and land on the boat.

"Motherfucker!" Yuuki snarled viciously as she rose from the water several feet out. "What the hell is going on?!"

"Yuuki!" Sherry hurried to her girlfriend's side, noticing that she was absolutely livid. "What happened? Who were those people?!"

"They called themselves Neo-Umbrella... This can't be good." Yuuki explained. "They even have some equipment that has Umbrella's old logo on them, like those fucking grenades they dropped into the water."

"Are you alright?! Did they do anything to you?" Sherry's eyes went wide in shock.

"No, I'm alright. I killed three of them and left the fourth for the shark." Yuuki explained. "C'mon, we need to get back to tell my mom, like... Now."

"Alright, but you might want to ditch your Scale Mail first." Sherry replied, luckily nobody was close by that could see that Yuuki's shoulders and face - the only part of her currently above water - were in Scale Mail form.

"Let's worry about the important things, for once, Sherry." Yuuki raised an eyebrow pointedly. "Besides, I'll absorb the water in a minute or two anyway."

* * *

Rize rubbed her temple with her index finger, thoroughly confused and annoyed at the same time. After speaking with the division director of the CIA for California, she learned that no details pertaining to Tobias had reached them, let alone the fact that they heard he had died in active BSAA duty. She thanked the man and hung up the phone just as Yuuki and Sherry returned from their diving trip.

"Mom, we have some bad news." Yuuki didn't even greet her mother. "Remember those bastards that tried to fuck with us this morning?"

"Well, firstly, they're not who they say they were. They're not CIA." Rize indicated the phone before nodding for Yuuki to continue speaking.

"They're calling themselves 'Neo-Umbrella'." Yuuki explained. "And one of them said that since their Chairman was still alive, that Umbrella wasn't really finished or something like that."

"You were attacked... weren't you?" Alice's voice came from the living room, where she was poring over BSAA documents she had gathered from Tobias and her base just outside of the city.

"Yeah, I killed three of them and left the fourth for a shark that I brokered a deal with." Yuuki explained as she and Sherry stood in the doorway to the living from.

"You can communicate with waterlife?" Alice glanced up, rather impressed.

"It's not like talking to a human, that's for sure." Yuuki nodded. "You communicate... instinctively, I guess. That's the best way I could describe it."

"You appealed to the shark's hunger, in exchange for getting Sherry to safety, right?" Alice concluded, to which Yuuki nodded again. "Well done."

"So you didn't really get much from them, did you?" Rize crossed her arms over her stomach. Yuuki shook her head.

"They dropped some pulse grenades into the water that seem stupidly effective at fucking me over." Yuukk growled. "When they did it, it felt like I just got hit from all sides by a fucking truck... Simultaneously."

"Pulse grenades?" Alice's eyebrows knitted together with concern. "That sounds like the prototype concussive grenades they developed about two years before I adopted Toby."

"So they're using old Umbrella tech, huh?" Rize frowned. "What about their other weapons? What were they using?"

"A pretty common military harpoon gun, and I know for a fact they all had a pistol called an FN Five Seven. Other than that, they just threw grenades into the water at me."

"Five Seven's huh?" Alice raised an eyebrow before snatching up one of the documents she had neatly stacked on the coffee table. "Oh shit."

"In all my years, I still don't like the sound of you saying, 'oh shit'... _Mom_."

Sherry and Yuuki both instantly screamed in terror, scrambling away from the front door. Rize immediately had a fireball in each hand, ready to defend her daughter as even Alice was frozen in utter shock.

"You're an asshole, you know that... _dear_?" Rize glared at her smirking husband as he gently closed the front door behind himself.

"It's one of my redeeming qualities, after all." Tobias held out his hand for his wife, who broke into tears and dismissed the fireball before running straight into his powerful chest. "I'm sorry I took so long."

"Two weeks..." Alice came around the living room doorway, her arms crossed with a smirk on her face. "At least she didn't have to wait a whole year to hear you say sorry for being late."

"Bit rich coming from you." Tobias regarded his mother with a sincere smile, despite his harsh teasing. "So, product evaluation: How did the Ragnarok rounds fare?"

"Fuckin' nasty." Alice smirked. "I gave the round and your casing necklace to your daughter, by the way... and your dogtags."

"I know." Tobias nodded. "You weren't the only one keeping an eye on her."

Upon hearing that, Yuuki and Sherry slowly came out from hiding in the kitchen, and Yuuki was stricken completely speechless. She took a few numb steps towards her father, then imitated her mother and ran straight into his chest, tears streaming down her face.

"I told you I'd be back." Tobias spoke to her in quiet Russian. "And I'm not going anywhere this time."

* * *

Serenity, Tabitha, Kaneki and Chris were quickly called, and like the rest of his family, they were all shocked to see Tobias standing before their very eyes... Until Tabitha punched him.

"YOU _ASSHOLE_!" She shouted at him. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO US?!"

"Because I've been hearing reports that an insurgent faction calling themselves Neo-Umbrella is making plans to restore the company to it's former glory, maybe even more." Tobias cracked his neck loudly as he spoke. "So, since I'm the central figure to their original downfall, I had to disappear from the radar - at least temporarily - so that I could verify the rumours myself."

"So does that mean the Syndicate's back?" Chris smirked. He remembered that fateful year that culminated in the destruction of Raccoon City with a nuclear missile strike - thanks to Tobias' manipulation of both the military and the legal system, he got off clean, as did all of the Syndicate survivors.

"No, the Syndicate's glory days are over. I don't want to put them through that again... I already give you and Piers enough shit as it is." Tobias smiled at his squad's second-in-command. "However, I do think we should muster the BSAA, and maybe even the Secret Service for this matter. There's no telling what Neo-Umbrella's managed to do for the past fifteen years since Raccoon City."

"Why the Secret Service?" Chris asked, unsure of what his commanding officer meant by that idea.

"Leon Kennedy and Ada Wong. Last time I heard from them, they did a joint operation in Spain to rescue the President at the time's daughter from a cult called Los Illuminados. Apparently they had B.O.W research at their disposal, so they made a parasite called Las Plagas... But Leon and Ada destroyed all traces of it, so we don't have to worry about that anymore."

"I remember that, then I heard they got married a few months later." Rize nodded. "They live in DC right now."

"So, sir... we're calling in favours and old friends?" Chris seemed to finally catch on.

"Exactly. Have you heard from Carlos recently?" Tobias asked, not noticing that Yuuki was inching towards him from behind, looking very hopeful and worried.

"He's overseas right now, on vacation. God knows he deserves it." Chris shook his head. Carlos was another BSAA member, but he'd recently gotten wounded in battle and was taking time off for his recovery.

"Dad, I have some information you might need." Yuuki was surprisingly quiet as she spoke.

"What would that be?" Tobias turned to his daughter curiously.

"One of the goons I killed said that their Chairman was still alive... I don't know what that means, but I thought you should know."

"Shit..." Tobias and Chris shared grim looks. "Wesker's still alive, even after what I did to his mutated ass."

* * *

Jake was busy fixing the engine of a jeep when the garage's phone rang loudly. One of his fellow employee's yelled that he'd get it, then after a minute, he yelled for Jake.

"Yo, Jake! Phone's for you! Says it's important!"

Jake gave a thumbs up since his head was till deep in the engine as he tightened the last few bolts. He quickly wiped most of the grime from his hands before walking over to the phone and holding it to his ear.

"Jake Muller speaking."

"I require your assistance, Jacob." The distinctively arrogant Austrian accent of Jake's father came through the line almost immediately. "I assure you, it's completely legal and actually rather beneficial for you."

"Bullshit, I'm not getting involved in your crap, old man." Jake scowled. He wasn't going to join his father's stupid Neo-Umbrella group. He wanted to live his life like a normal person, not some organized crime goon.

"And here I thought any young man your age would jump at the opportunity to get himself a girlfriend." Wesker sounded amused and disappointed at the same time. "Such a shame."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Jake checked over his shoulder to make sure nobody was eavesdropping.

"I'll put into as simple terms as I can..." Wesker sighed. "I want you... to get close to a certain girl, to try and learn as much as you can about her, no matter the cost. I'll even pay you for this, should that be an incentive."

"Who's this girl you want to know so much about, old man?" Jake didn't like the sound of this in the slightest.

"Yuuki Serafima Darkwood."


	11. Chapter 11

"Miss Darkwood... How many times do we have to remind you about your behaviour regarding Miss Birkin on school grounds?" The school's principal had his face in his palm, thoroughly exhausted by yet another scathing report that Yuuki and Sherry had been defiant to a teacher when ordered to separate from Sherry's mouth.

"When you get the point." Yuuki was pissed. Now that her father was back in LA, he'd heard about her recent defiance at school and asked that she at least TRY to behave. "But that's a bit ironic, coming from the man with a wedding ring on his hand, bitching at me about the woman I love."

The principal took his hand away from his face, realizing that it was his left hand, where his wedding band was plainly visible.

"My wife isn't here, disrupting school with such risque antics." The man leaned back in his desk chair, which instantly made Yuuki scowl, baring her fangs.

"Do you even realize how misogynistic you sound right now? Not to mention homophobic?! You fucking disgust me." She stood up suddenly, glaring at him. "I'll bet you hard cash your wife kisses you the instant she gets her hands on you the second you get home. What's so different with me and MY romantic partner?!"

"At least my wife and I show some restraint." He leaned forward, speaking with smooth arrogance. "As should you. Now, we're not forcing you to stop outright, just to tone it down, or face further consequences."

"You can't threaten me." Yuuki recognized when the balance of power shifted in a conversation, that he was trying to tip the scales in his favour. She closed her eyes with a bored sigh.

"I've kept a tab in your file specifically for these exact incidents regarding Miss Birkin, and it drastically outclasses your pechance for violence with other students." He smirked, which made Yuuki laugh darkly.

"Gonna try playing that card, huh?" Yukki bared her fangs, this time in amusement as she opened her eyes again...

All of them.

Yuuki's eyes were rather unique. Of course, she had her main pair of solid icy blue eyes, but hidden on her forehead were two more pairs of totally icy blue eyes, much like that of a spider. Under normal circumstances, she kept them reflexively closed, in addition to covering them with her long bangs - which was an elongated version of her father's signature asymmetrical spiky rooster haircut. To the average layman, the hidden eyeslits appeared to be thin scars in her flesh. When they were all open, she had nearly perfect night vision, and she could independently redirect each of the three pairs of eyes at will, which expanded her field of vision drastically at any given time.

"Do you understand what I'm putting down, sir?" Yuuki was very calm as she took in the suddenly pale visage of her principal. She, like her father, could intimidate people with little more than a glare, in part due to her spider eyes, but also her towering 6'1" height and distinctively mixed Japanese/Russian accent.

"You don't scare me, Miss Darkwood." Her principal quickly got over his shock and smirked at her. "So for that little stunt, you're to assist the cafeteria staff for the lunch period with cooking..."

"Nyet." Yuuki remained completely calm as she put one hand onto her hip while the other hand's fingers were splayed across the surface of the principal's desk. "I refuse on the grounds of severe health reasons."

"Allergies, I presume?" he raised an eyebrow, since nothing in her files hinted towards allergies, aside from her documented asthma.

"You could say that, yes. I'll do the fucking detention, I honestly don't give a shit... but if you so much as dare to try and kill me like that again, I just might have to use one of these on you." Yuuki removed her hand from her hip, holding up a distinctive business card emblazoned with the CCG, BSAA, and old Umbrella logo's.

"I've never seen those before." The principal was telling the truth. Seeing the card with the three distinctive designs was very unusual.

"Well, to put it simply..." Yuuki held it between her index and middle fingers as she spoke. "I'm legally required to place these on the corpse of the person that I consume while hunting. I'm diplomatically immune to persecution and investigation from the Commission of Counter-Ghoul because I'm not an ordinary Ghoul... I'm the daughter of SSS-rated Frostbite and SSS-rated Hellhound."

"You're one of the..." His voice shook as he face was swamped with dawning comprehension.

"Advanced Ghouls... AKA the Umbrella T-Ghouls." Yuuki nodded as she slipped the business card back into her hidden card dispenser. "So forgive me for loving my girlfriend... _sir_. I'll come back at the beginning of the lunch period for my detention."

With that, she turned and left his office, leaving the man in shocked relief that he managed to survive pissing her off so badly.

* * *

When Yuuki did return, she was greeted by Jake Muller, who had a bruised cheek and knuckles, clear signs he'd gotten into a fight.

"Why am I not surprised?" Jake smirked. "I guess he wants us both to suffer together."

"The fuck does that mean, Muller?" Yuuki narrowed her eyes - her upper eyes were closed by now, she didn't need them - in obvious suspicion. What was going on?

"Principal said you're my detention partner for today. We're cleaning as our punishments." Jake handed over a bottle of spray cleaner and a rag. "Class 202 had a party, and we're clearing up the debris and the bullshit."

"Lead the way, hotshot." Yuuki couldn't resist the opportunity to mock him for what he did to get himself into detention.

"That's rich, coming from you." Jake commented in Russian as he took his own cleaning set and walked to the proper classroom down the corridor.

"I don't punch people, I just get mouthy." Yuuki scowled, likewise replying in Russian.

"With teeth like that, I'm somehow not all that surprised." Jake noticed her fangs, but after what his father had told him, sharp teeth should be expected for the offspring of not one, but two Umbrella bioweapons.

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?!" Yuuki grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around to face her.

"Would it be rude to admit I know a few things about you?" Jake raised an eyebrow pointedly. "Personally, I'm surprised the media doesn't know about your fish scales thing... or your extra eyes."

Yuuki slammed him against the nearest lockers with a loud bang. "Who told you that information?!" She was thankful they'd been conversing in Russian the whole time, otherwise she'd have denied it for the sake of public image.

"Put it this way, I don't trust them myself... But I was provided with proof." Jake knew better than to anger her further than this, but he did begrudgingly agree to get closer to her, especially after the dossier of intel on her revealed the truth behind her. "So... My terms."

"Your terms?" Yuuki glared at him, pissed off and very suspicious.

"You. Me. Sherry. Date. Tonight." Jake smirked, still speaking in Russian.

"Are you stupid, or do you have a concussion?" Yuuki released her grip on him and peered into his eyes very closely. "Doesn't take a genius to figure out that I'm not into dick. Unless you're a tranny, you can kiss that idea buh-bye." Yuuki shoved the cleaning stuff into Jake's stomach and turned to leave.

"Fine. You and me only. I'll even arrange everything... Ghoul." Jake didn't like having to pull this dirty card on Yuuki. "I know someone that can compensate for your... special diet."

SCHWING! THUD!

Yuuki opened all of her eyes as she spun on her heel and threw her Quinque Steel knife dangerously close to Jake's throat, the blade impaled itself into the thin gap between the locker door and the frame, causing minimal damage, yet stayed quivering in place.

"One more word... and out come the claws." Yuuki threatened the smirking redhead, getting a strange vibe from him. It wasn't malicious like it sounded, honestly it was sincere. He honestly meant well, but probably didn't know how to word it properly.

"What if I told you a big secret of my own?" Jake suggested, his face neutral.

All of Yuuki's eyes glanced back and forth between Jake's two eyes, looking for even a glint of a lie. After several long, tense seconds, she closed her spider eyes and let out a sigh. "This better be good enough to counter-blackmail you with..."

Jake leaned forward suddenly, whispering into her ear. "Your dad is being targeted by Neo-Umbrella for capture. They plan to extract your grandmother's T-Cells from his body to clone her back to life. I was given the task initially, but after your dad died, the plan was diverted to a covert mission to extract his corpse from the grave and just steal his mixed T-Cells on-site."

Yuuki's eyes lit up with concern, but then she realized that Jake was pressing the cleaning kit into her stomach.

"I'll pick you up at eight. Let's get our detention over with, I dunno about you, but I'm fucking hungry." Jake abruptly switched back to English and went inside the classroom to begin their assigned duties.


	12. Chapter 12

"I don't really like the idea of this, Yuuki..." Sherry was nervously twisting the hem of her skirt as she watched her girlfriend prepare for her rather forced date with Jake Muller. "I mean, what if..."

"I've taken precautions, Sherry. One wrong move, and he won't be coming to class for quite a while." Yuuki was dead serious, staring at Sherry's reflection in her mirror.

It was true. Not only did she have her knife on her... She'd also borrowed Aunty Serenity's old Beretta Jetfire just for this exact scenario. She wasn't pleased with this rather forced outcome, but at the same time, she needed to get more out of the sarcastic redhead. There was more to this whole date bullshit than it seemed.

"Do your parents know about this?" Sherry asked, her tone very worried.

"Not the whole story. All they know is that I lost a bet with him." Yuuki replied. "Dad laughed at me when I told them."

* * *

Jake smirked as he approached the front door of the Darkwood residence. He knew what he was in for... a lecture from Daddy. The one and only, Tobias Dimitri Darkwood.

"You seem oddly pleased."

Jake paused, so Tobias had been waiting for him outside.

"Yes, sir." Jake slowly turned to face Yuuki's father, who was - as the reports from his own father had revealed - wearing an all black suit. Surprisingly, his face wasn't burned like his files declared. "With all due respect, your daughter is quite attractive. Any young man my age would be pleased by this."

"You can drop the polite act." Tobias frowned slightly. "That crap doesn't work on me."

"It's not an act, sir." Jake shook his head. "I am respectful and polite to people who deserve or have earned it. You, sir, deserve it by default."

"Well, in my line of work, being polite means you have the upper hand. So, on that note..." Tobias' right eye turned black and red, his Kakugan. "Get the hint, young man?"

"To be fair, sir..." Jake smiled slightly. "Yuuki pulled the same threat on me when we made our bet." He tapped his forehead. "She's the first Ghoul I've ever met, and she went full six eyes on me."

"Do I need to lecture you about how to respect my daughter, or leave you to your fate if you fail?" Tobias smirked as his Kakugan reverted back to his usual blue eye.

"I'm not my father. You don't need to worry, sir." Jake held out his left hand to shake Tobias' hand.

Tobias noticed the disdain in Jake's voice when he mentioned his own father, and internally resolved to check into that. But, he took the offered hand and nodded.

"I want her back by 10:30. You call ahead if you're going to be late for any reason." He spoke quietly to the young man, who nodded.

"Good. The movie ends at 10:10. Plenty of time to get her home safe." Jake smiled as Yuuki herself came out of the house behind him.

"Mom wants to see you, Muller." Yuuki announced before spotting her father behind him. "Gave him a lecture, I take it?" She asked in Japanese, to which Tobias smirked and nodded.

Jake immediately obeyed the order to visit Yuuki's mother - whom he'd never met nor read reports about - but the instant he entered the foyer, he instinctively caught a cylindrical object that was tossed at him...

A shotgun shell.

"It travels _faster_ after 10:30. You get the hint, young man?" Rize spoke in a chilling calm tone as Jake examined the object in his hand.

"Yes, ma'am." Jake nodded, then bowed his head respectfully. "You have my word."

"Drop the act, you don't have the upper hand here." Rize narrowed her gaze at him suspiciously. No teenage boy would even do this sort of polite act. They'd give Mr. and Mrs. Darkwood's, but that's it. Most manners were beyond the mentality of a fifteen year old boy.

"It's not an act, ma'am. I believe in respecting those who deserve it, or earn it. Yourself and your husband deserve it by default." Jake still hadn't lifted his head, instead speaking towards the tiled floor. "As does your daughter."

"Hmmm..." Rize still wasn't quite sure about it, so she decided to test him a bit. "Alright, in that case, I'll delay the shell's acceleration to eleven."

"No, ma'am..." Jake immediately refused. "Your husband and yourself have clearly agreed on a 10:30 curfew, and I wish to obey that to the best of my ability."

Now Rize was pleased. "Very well. Return the shell to my husband on your way out. You may leave now."

"Yes, ma'am." Jake deepened his bow slightly, then stood up straight and curtly spun on his heel to return to where Yuuki and Tobias were waiting. When he reached them, Tobias held out his hand for the shell - Jake knew he'd heard - and he nodded approvingly at the young man.

"I didn't expect her to pull the shotgun shell threat, to be honest. You can go now. And remember what we told you, Jake." Tobias slid the shell into the inner pocket of his suit jacket.

"Yes, sir!" Jake nodded, then gestured for Yuuki to enter his Jeep.

It was only at this moment that he realized Yuuki was wearing a sharp black suit, just like her father. No tie, but pretty much the exact same outfit. The only major difference was that she also wore a short brimmed fedora tilted down over her eyes. He started the engine and pulled out onto the road before driving away.

"So..." Yuuki smirked, glancing at him under her hat - despite the fact that it was completely impossible to tell the direction of her gaze. "Looks like you got off easy with both of them. What's your secret, Casa Nova?"

"Simple. I respect them, and made it very clear to both of them that I do so without putting on a gimmick. Earning someone's respect is very important to me, since my father refuses to do that."

"You've mentioned your father a number of times now. Who is this prick?" Yuuki couldn't help but frown as she tried to picture who it was.

"You're gonna like this one..." Jake smirked widely, curving his scar. "Your dad would probably tear me in half for this... My dad's Albert Wesker. The guy trying to hunt your dad down."

"Oh... Well, that's... _Wow_." Yuuki didn't know what to say. She'd seen pictures of the former Chairman a few times - all from BSAA documents, of course - and for some reason, Jake didn't look like him in the slightest. "By the sound of it, he's still alive, huh?" She knew the legendary stories of the Syndicate's assault on the Umbrella Corporation during the Raccoon City T-Virus outbreak.

"Yeah. Never tells me where he is, but judging by all his Neo-Umbrella bullshit, he's at least got someone watching over me. He'd never do things himself." Jake smirked suddenly. "The bastard pictures himself to be like a puppet master, making others do the dirty work for him."

"He's the total opposite of my dad. He hates making people get involved in things, whether or not he needs them to be. He prefers to do things personally." Yuuki couldn't help but compare their respective fathers. "You've heard of the Syndicate, right?"

"My dad told me his version of the battle, yeah. Not that I believed his shit in the first place. I think he got what he deserved." Jake replied. "Too bad he survived."

"Well, I can tell you don't like him... And I respect that he's your father, but the fact remains... My dad and the BSAA are going to slaughter him and all of Neo-Umbrella once they find where they've been hiding."

"Y'know..." Jake smirked. "I'd love to actually be there to watch them do it. Honestly, I hate my dad. Thank god I took after my mother before she died, rest her soul, otherwise I'd never have come out to LA... and met you, of course."

"If that's your attempt at being charming, you're going to have to do better than that." Yuuki smirked. "Still not interested in dick."

"No, it wasn't. And I meant meeting you, the daughter of the man that killed my father. The irony isn't lost on me." Jake explained. "To be completely honest, I'm not really interested in you romantically, I want to just be a friend."

"So this date... is just us hanging out? I can work with that." Yuuki finally figured it out. "So what's the movie we're seeing? It's that new Ghost in the Shell movie, right?"

"Indeed. Apparently it's based on a true story." Jake nodded. "Interesting fact I learned is the actress playing Agent Stella actually met the real woman in person. She had an interview with her, those injuries Stella had are real... and so are the metal limbs she has."

"Wait, so you're telling me Agent Stella's real?!" Yuuki was surprised by the revelation. "It's not some made-up story?!"

"Totally telling the truth. I can give you the video link for the interview, if you want. It's in Japanese, so I had to use subtitles. Not that it would interfere with you, huh?"

Yuuki couldn't bear to admit it, but she _loved_ the Ghost in the Shell franchise, which actually predated even her parents, having started nearly 38 years earlier, back in 1995. Despite being who she was, Yuuki still had her secret nerdy side that she tried to hide.

"You have no idea..." Yuuki nodded, smirking at her own thoughts.

* * *

 **A/N: For those of you that haven't clued in yet, this story is actually taking place in about 2033. Silence took place from June of 2015 until March of 2017. Yuuki was born around the end of 2017, in November.**


	13. Chapter 13

"I... that... well..." Yuuki couldn't string together a full sentence. The Ghost in the Shell movie was amazing, that was very evident...

"Too much sex scenes?" Jake smirked, knowing what Yuuki was trying to say. He knew. He was expertly concealing his own erection as Yuuki's face grew more flustered by the second.

"Yeah..." Yuuki finally gave up and hung her head low, tugging the brim of her fedora down to try covering her face even more. "I had no idea that Stella went through all that shit..."

"I know, it's surprising, wouldn't you agree?"

Yuuki and Jake both stopped, their hearts somewhere in their throats. That voice...

"Agent Stella?!" Yuuki was the first to turn, and found herself face to face with the extremely attractive Japanese cyborg cop.

"It's Sergeant now. Got a promotion a while back." The much shorter cyborg was wearing a lot of black leather, just like Yuuki usually wore, although she lacked the additional metal accessories that Yuuki liked. "So, how'd you like the premier? I think they over did the sex scenes, personally. Got me a little too hot and bothered to be out in public." Stella's upper lips curled awkwardly, as if she was trying to smile without her lower lips being present anymore.

Yuuki's heart was hammering violently. She was literally face to face with the absolutely gorgeous cyborg she'd just seen on screen banging the equally sexy cyborg, Motoko Kusanagi. Words were obviously failing her.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Sergeant, but where is your wife?" Jake spoke up, looking around of Stella's wife, who he knew was generally accompanying her from the interview he'd seen.

"Enjoying the view."

Yuuki let out a very adorable, but panicked squeal as Stella's wife, the _real_ Motoko Kusanagi, jokingly squeezed her ass through her black suit.

"My my, you seem to find all the gorgeous women the second you open your eyes." Motoko chastised her wife, joining her in regarding the two teenagers. "I'm Major Motoko Kusanagi, the real one from the movie you just saw."

"Are you, um..." Yuuki was very nervous. The amount of borderline porn she'd seen in the past two hours was playing in her mind as she stood face to face with the real ones depicted in the movie. "A full... cyborg?"

"Give me your hand." Motoko extended her own, which earned another smile... thing from Stella, who's eyes crinkled in obvious amusement.

Yuuki extended her left hand, and Motoko curled it into a fist, covering the whole thing in her own. "That's how much of me is organic. A fist sized clump of my brain."

Yuuki's eyes widened, but at that moment, a cellphone rang, and she realized it was her own.

"Go ahead, we'll wait." Stella nodded, and she spun around to take the call from her father.

"Privjet?"

"Sorry to call like this, your grandmother and I have unearthed some intel we'd like to discuss with you and Jake. Personally. When you're done with your date, can you tell him we'd like to speak to him?"

"Dah." Yuuki agreed right away then hung up. "Sorry, parents." She turned back to the two cyborg lesbians, who exchanged knowing glances.

"You're half-Russian, huh?" Stella asked, putting her hands onto her hips, which caused her leather jacket to rise up slightly and reveal the briefest hint of the fact she carried a gun on her lower back. A Colt M1911a1, just like in the movie.

"How did..." Yuuki began, but Stella raised a black metal hand to tap the back of her neck.

"Automatic audio translation. Cyberbrain." Stella explained. "I'm surprised. Aside from your hair and eyes, you look like you're pure Japanese."

"I look like my mom, almost exclusively." Yuuki shrugged. "Sorry to ruin the moment like that, but it was super important."

"Well, in that case, here." Stella slid a business card out of an inner pocket of her jacket. "This is where Motoko and I are staying here in LA. Give us a call if you'd like to talk again."

Yuuki's hands were shaking as she accepted the card. A well known, infamous cyborg lesbian just gave her a card and said she could talk later... Holy fucking shit!

"Th-thank you..." Yuuki carefully slid it into her suit's chest pocket as Stella and Motoko laughed slightly.

"So, give us a call after you deal with your parents. God knows I know that feeling." Stella's face broke into the same twitch-like smile, and her eyes crinkled with amusement as the pairs parted ways.

"So that's the girl you've been drooling over..." Motoko teased her wife, who went slightly red in the face.

"Yeah, that's her. You should watch Darkwood with me when they resume the series." Stella chuckled as her wife shook her head in response. "Oh, c'mon, it's just a TV show. Not like she can eat us or something."

"You, my love, are still almost 35% organic. We can't rule that out." Motoko replied, but Stella laughed as they walked through the pedestrians.

"She won't do that. Didn't you see her? She was fangirling over us." Stella replied. "Not that I should be one to talk. She's sexy as fuck. Same with her mother."

"Let me guess, the next words out of your mouth will be 'Oh god, the things I'd do to those women!'?" Motoko knew her wife very, very well.

"I was going to say booty, but yeah, that works!" Stella laughed again. "Who knows, maybe they'd be up for a hot lesbian orgy."

"I doubt it, to be honest." Motoko shook her head with an amused smile.

"Y'never know~!" Stella replied in a singsong voice, not willing to admit defeat just yet.

She wanted that silver haired goth babe's booty.

* * *

"10:27... Good. You've taken the first steps to earning my trust, Jacob Wesker Muller." Tobias was waiting outside as Jake's Jeep pulled up to the Darkwood residence.

"With all due respect, Sir... I'd like to explain everything I know about my father and his crap... Peacefully, if at all possible." Jake slowly held up his hands, knowing this could go badly very fast.

"That's my intention, you can relax. Want a drink while we talk?" Tobias smirked as he stopped Yuuki from breezing past him with his arm. "You alright?"

"Met a celebrity at the movie. Got her number too." Yuuki replied, then brushed her dad's arm away as Jake came forward and bowed slightly to him.

"I'd like to apologies for any suspicions I may have placed onto you concerning my intentions with your daughter."

"I'm fine with you being friends with her, she's the one you'd be answering to if you fucked up. Not me." Tobias gestured for him to enter the house. "So, that drink?"

"I'm underage, sir..."

"I meant coffee, water, or a soda. You do know we have human friends visit us, right?" Tobias smiled at the nervous young man. "C'mon, before my wife grabs the shotgun again."

Jake didn't need that experience again, so he hurried inside to find the woman herself smirking at him.

"I heard." Was all she said before turning back to the living room, evidently implying for the rest of them to follow her.

Of course, the moment he came around the corner, he went pale. There were other people all watching the entrance expectantly... A total of seven of them.

"So, you're Wesker's son, huh?" One of the two blonde women - easily late forties, early fifties - was watching with narrowed eyes and keen interest on her face. "It's easy to tell you look like your mother. I probably met her at some point, all those years ago."

"She died when I was back in Miami." Jake replied, which earned a smirk from the other blonde seated beside the first.

"So you moved to LA, why? Escape your past? Start anew?" This blonde was covered in tattoos, from about her jawline downwards was nothing but ink. "Oh, wait... that's it. You wanted to start a new life, probably guilty about her death?"

"Sere, enough. Don't start baiting him like that." Tobias spoke up sharply as he took a seat in the last armchair while his wife and daughter sat on the couch beside him. "Alright, Jake, I'll start with what we know about you, then you can clarify or correct this information. Sound fair?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then have a seat." Tobias gestured to the ice chair behind Jake, who immediately sat down.

"So, like Sere was trying to get out of you, we know about your cross country past, not to mention where you work, your classes at school, even your mother's death... What we'd like to know is why you refuse to join your father's organization, Neo-Umbrella."

"Because I hate him." Jake replied. "I believe what he's trying to do is terrorism, so I want nothing of it."

"Well, to be more precise..." The only other male in the group spoke up, white haired with grey eyes and black nails, his hands clasped together and his elbows resting on his knees as he leaned forward. "What he's doing is unknown to us, so elaborate on what you know."

"He took the infected flesh from his own mutation and modified it, then called it the C-Virus. He plans to kill all seven of you with it, since you were the ones that 'took everything from him' or some bullshit. I don't know much, but I can say his plan is centered here in LA. Has been for years."

"Interesting." Rize spoke up. "So those men from earlier this week, they were his goons."

"That was just a tease." Jake explained. "It wasn't even meant to succeed."

"So there's more bullshit down the road, huh?" Yuuki scowled at the thought of fighting more of Neo-Umbrella.

"He wants a war, and he's got the funding, manpower and resources to do it..." Jake chuckled. "Or at least try."

Tobias started laughing suddenly, low, deep and sinister. His face broke into an amused smile.

"If Wesker wants a war... He's going to get one." The rest of his family all had that same sadistic glint in their eyes, making Jake's spine shiver as a chill went up and back down his back.


	14. Chapter 14

Over the next few days, Jake visited the Darkwood's - turns out the seven of them were the T-Ghouls from the Umbrella days - to explain each and every single bit of intel he possessed on Neo-Umbrella. From known safehouses, corrupt officials in the government and police, down to the names of people he'd had the misfortune of meeting directly. Not a single detail he had was overlooked, and thanks to the very detail oriented Serenity and the perpetually analytic Kaneki, they had essentially pinpointed every possible Neo-Umbrella operative in the city that Jake knew existed.

"So, why do they have such a large number of Navy and Coast Guard personnel on their roster?" Tobias glanced at the fifteen year old redhead for a moment before returning his gaze to the tablet in his hand that displayed the people in question.

"That... I don't know." Jake shrugged. "Like I said, I only know as much as I do because I'm a Wesker. Wouldn't know jack shit if their boss wasn't my dad."

"I get the feeling they have a ship, maybe even a submarine." Kaneki pointed out, standing with his hands on his hips beside his brother. "Makes sense, given their Navy and Coast Guard personnel."

"That's a sound theory. Maybe I could weasel something out of the asshole next time he calls me?" Jake suggested, which made the polar opposite, but visibly similar men both stare at him with matching raised eyebrows.

"I'd pay cash to see you pull that off, kid." Tobias smirked, but Kaneki was curiously impressed.

"That's not a bad idea, actually. Just we'll take a 'wait and see' approach, at least until new information comes to us."

"He usually calls me to try and convince me to join Neo-Umbrella about once a week. Otherwise he just calls to be his usual arrogant self." Jake smirked. "For such a deadbeat father, he does check in pretty often."

"That's because you're still useful to him in some way." Tobias replied right away. "Believe me when I say this, the second he gets a chance, you're fucked. He's going to try and betray you, whether you see it coming or not."

"Is that why he hates you so much, Mr. Darkwood?" Jake asked, catching a hint of experience in Tobias' tone.

"He couldn't control me from the very beginning. Only thing he could do was point and say 'please' in case I was in a bad enough mood to tear his head off." Tobias smirked. "So, I'll speak to some of my military contacts to see what they can dig up about outlying ships outside of direct military jurisdiction in the Pacific. I doubt your father'd have a fleet in the Atlantic if all of his primary targets are on the West coast."

"And if they can't find anything worthwhile?" Jake asked.

"Then I go check my damn self." Yuuki's voice came from behind them, and she was smirking with her hands on her hips. "You forget what my powers are already?"

"Your mother won't approve." Tobias' immediate reply showed that even with all his power and capability, he wasn't the one in charge of the household. That title belonged to Mother Dearest, Rize.

"So?" Yuuki smirked at her father. "It's not like you have the ability to find a submarine, or track down a Neo-Umbrella owned ship of any size. I have a domain where nothing is unknown to me, and that's the ocean."

"In other words, you're our best shot at finding a sub, but we'd need to narrow down the surface ships via my military contacts before we send you anywhere near the surface." Tobias concluded with a sigh. "Well... Fine. Just don't do it on a school day."

"I know, I know." Yuuki waved her hand dismissively. " _Waste my own time, not school time_. I know the stupid mantra."

"You taught her well..." Jake leaned over and joked with Tobias in Russian, only for a resounding smack to echo from the back of his head.

"Asshole." Yuuki glared at him as she lowered her outstretched hand. "If you were my actual boyfriend, you'd be blueballed so fucking fast, Mishka couldn't even keep up."

"But I'm not, so I'm pretty safe." Jake replied smartly, only for Yuuki to pull out her knife and press it against his neck.

"I have a notorious habit for playing with sharp objects..." Yuuki spoke in a deadly clam voice, almost sadistic in sweetness. "And I'm not very fond of dicks, so I know some very interesting methods of removing them from my vicinity. Get my point yet, smartass?"

To drive her point home, she tapped the very tip of her index finger's claw against his throbbing jugular.

"You're a kinky fucker, ain't cha?" Jake replied, not willing to fold. "Sherry must have so much fun with you in bed, huh?"

"Okay, now I'm tempted to rip out that tongue of yours, kid." Tobias glared at him darkly.

"I have a sense of humour, what can I say?" Jake shrugged again.

" _Nothing._ " Yuuki replied. "That'd be a very good start."

* * *

"Excellent. Alright, speak with our usual camera crews, see if they want to return for the show. If not, call me back, and I'll arrange a meeting with the candidates to glean through and pick who's needed. Yes, yes... Goodbye."

"So the show must go on, huh?" Alice had heard about Darkwood only in passing, a casual conversation she'd heard while out walking on the street. She knew it was put on a temporary hiatus, but by the sound of Rize's phone call, it was being reconsidered for renewal.

"We are technically celebrities, as unusual as that sounds." Rize replied as she lowered the phone. "Honestly, it helps all of us, despite the occasional bit of friction it may cause."

"So what about the younger aspect?" Alice was of course, referring to Yuuki directly, and indirectly, Jake and Sherry.

"She's got quite the cult following. Every guy her age can drool all they want, but they know they can't have her. So, of course, every little lesbian out there has a gleam in her eye."

"I meant more along the lines of Jake and her." Alice corrected herself.

"Jake himself made it very clear he's just a friend. He friendzoned himself." Rize replied with a smirk. "So, I guess we should brief him on the incoming clusterfuck."

"That's a very good idea." Alice smirked, then followed her oldest daughter through the house to find Jake in a rather compromised position under Yuuki's knife. "Please tell me you're joking?"

"Oh. Hi, Miss Abernathe..." Jake glanced over to see the two of them entering the living room. "Um... I said something stupid?" He smiled awkwardly, his explanation coming out more like a question.

"Let him go, Yuuki." Rize sounded rather bored by the incident, like she'd given that command many times before... Which was, of course, the truth.

"To be fair, Rize, he did say something stupid." Tobias smirked as his daughter released her friend from the near-lethal threat.

"Kinda had that one coming for me..." Jake laughed nervously, but Alice cleared her throat for attention.

"Jake, I'd like to speak to you about some upcoming events that will be occuring here."

"What, is the Army gonna get involved?" Jake thought she was talking about the conversation he'd just had with Tobias and Kaneki.

"No." Alice shook her head. "You watch any TV in your spare time?"

"My spare time involves oil, metal, tools and the occasional bit of swearing." Jake smirked, but Alice's narrowed eyes made him elaborate on his joke. "I'm training to be a mechanic... I work on cars in my spare time."

"Well, that's actually helpful." Alice was slightly surprised. "So, I'll get to the point: We're all celebrities, as hard as that is to grasp. We're all on a reality show, called Darkwood. Right now, the show's on hiatus, but Rize just got off the phone with the studio, and she agreed to resume the show."

"So let me guess, you're warning me about the cameras and the bullshit that's gonna be coming my way if I'm seen on screen with Yuuki?"

"You catch on fast." Alice nodded. "You and I are the only ones that haven't been on screen, so you're in it with me whether you like it or not."

"Why haven't you been on screen?" Jake asked, confused.

"Because to the general public... I've been dead for sixteen years." Alice smirked. "The proof hangs around my granddaughter's neck." She pointed at the heavy black chain that disappeared into Yuuki's respectably deep cleavage.

"You even think about staring down my shirt, I'll stab you." Yuuki glared at Jake, who held up his hands innocently.

"A smartass, I may be... but suicidal, I am not." Jake replied in an oddly sagely tone.


	15. Chapter 15

"Gentlemen... Lady." Tobias was the first to greet the camera crew when they arrived on the weekend. "Glad to see you're all alive and well."

"Hey there, Toby." The only woman, the producer, greeted him with a smirk. "How was Eastern Europe?"

"Things went as expected, with a few minor hiccups." Tobias replied. "Overall, the situation was contained."

"Good to hear. So, anything changed in the house since the hiatus?" She asked, since she still had the whole house memorized.

"You have two more people to keep track of." Tobias raised his hand to snap his fingers, loudly.

"Greetings. You must be the filming crew." Alice and Jake slowly descended from the roof where they'd been hiding. Jake, of course, being very uncomfortable with the idea of Telekinesis. "I'm Alice Abernathe, Tobias' mother. This is Yuuki's friend, Jake Muller."

"Umm..." The producer was visibly confused. "Aren't you..."

"Dead?" Alice smirked. "No, it's a long story. I can explain it in a solo interview, if you'd like."

"So, are you both Ghouls?" The producer had a pen and notepad out in an instant, taking short, quick notes.

"I'm a T-Ghoul." Alice replied. "Bikaku-type, Telekinesis." She turned to Jake. "He's human."

"Brave kid." One of the cameramen joked, causing Jake to scowl at him.

"If you respect people, then they respect you in turn. Not that complicated, asshole." Jake made it clear he didn't like the man's comment about him.

"Even Ghouls?" The cameraman continued, smirking. He knew he'd gotten the kid.

"I'm not starting a humans versus Ghouls debate. They're still people. If I respect someone, it's just that. I don't care if they're human, or Ghoul, or T-Ghoul either." Jake glared at the man, then turned to Tobias and switched to speaking Russian. "So this is what your wife meant by gleaning through the crew, didn't she?"

"Yeah, it's exactly what she meant." Tobias replied darkly, then switched to English. "Rize's waiting for you in the living room. She's going to hear about your commentary, human. Best of luck to you... If you survive."

The film crew dutifully entered the house, and the mouthy cameraman glared at Jake, who smirked knowingly. Alice crossed her arms over her stomach and glanced at Jake before saying. "I think we should at least go inside, in case we're needed for anything, like an interview."

"I wouldn't do that... quite yet." Tobias replied. "Rize's going to eat that fat fucker for his commentary."

"Doesn't bother me, to be honest. Probably deserves his fate." Jake knew he should get desensitized to the idea of Ghouls eating flesh, so he was willing to watch, but Tobias shook his head.

"You're human. You're still technically on the food spectrum, whether you like it or not." Tobias explained. "It's for your own safety."

"So... What now?" Jake understood what Tobias meant now.

"You're friends with my daughter. Go hang out with her." Tobias smirked before heading inside.

"Where is she?" Jake asked Alice, who shrugged.

"Don't you have her cell number?" She asked, but Jake shook his head, so she smirked before saying. "Sucks to be you."

Alice left him standing there, until he heard a sharp bang echo from the back of the house. Of course, he ran to investigate, finding Sherry and Yuuki standing rather proudly as some light mist hung in the air.

"Shit's fucked up. Imagine if it was put into a bullet or something." Yuuki was speaking to Sherry, who was busy preparing something out of Jake's view.

"You'd be fucked." Sherry replied. "Sodium doesn't even fully react either, so it'll keep reacting until it's all used up. Here, you toss it this time."

"Potassium has a similar effect, if I remember correctly." Jake commented as he joined the pair. "So what's this I hear about you and a Sodium bullet?"

"My body's genetically unstable, according to Sherry's dad. Said that's how I can use most of my powers." Yuuki replied. "So, because of that, I'm more structured like water, and my body is also an even higher percentage of water as well. Here, chuck this into the pool. Watch what happens."

Jake took the block of sodium that Sherry had cut from a bigger chunk, then tossed it into the water, causing an instantaneous blast of water to erupt straight upwards, drenching all three of them. Yuuki, of course, didn't even react as she was covered in water.

"Fuck, that was loud!" Jake shook the water from his eyes. "How'd you two learn this crap?"

"Youtube." Sherry replied. "Found a video of a guy tossing some sodium into a lake, and the chunk tore apart and bounced around a few times while it reacted."

"From what I can tell, sodium bullets wouldn't really have much penetration power. They're more likely to be used in hollow points, if anything." Yuuki had her hands on her hips, completely dry except for a few drops that stubbornly clung to the heavy black chain on her neck. "Obviously, if they were used against me, they'd need to be Q-Bullets with sodium tips."

"Q-Bullets?" Jake hadn't heard that term before.

"Bullets made of the same metal as this." Yuuki tapped the damp chain with her index finger. "It's called Quinque Steel."

"Isn't that an alloy?" Sherry asked, and Yuuki nodded.

"As far as I know, yeah. Shit's a lot stronger than steel." She glanced over at Jake. "Most modern ballistic armour plates use it now, since the metal's become so common. Most of the US Army uses Q-Bullets too, after encountering my dad, of course."

"How much stronger is it?" Jake asked, curious.

"About twenty percent. Weighs about ten percent more." Yuuki explained. "If you want to know more, ask dad. He deals with the shit everyday."

"So that knife of yours... Quinque Steel too?" Jake asked, crouching down onto one knee.

"Yup. Dad's old knife." Yuuki pulled the knife out from her lower back and examined the well honed edge. "His new one's the standard issue one for the BSAA. Still made of Quinque Steel, obviously."

"So, considering everything he's told me, I take it you got a gun too?" Jake asked, curious about whether or not Yuuki carried one or had her own personal one somewhere.

"Nah, I don't have my own... But I do have Aunty Sere's old purse pistol." Yuuki reached into the only inner pocket of her leather jacket and pulled out the loaded Beretta Jetfire. "It's called a Beretta Jetfire. It's a rinky dink little .25 ACP self defense gun."

"My dad left me a gun a few months ago, said it was only for self defence." Jake scowled. "Cheap bastard only gave me the gun, and one loaded magazine. Nothing else."

"Do you even bother using it?" Sherry asked, staring at her slightly chipped nail polish.

"It's in my Jeep." Jake replied. "I keep it in the glove box, never fired it."

"Do you even know how?" Yuuki smirked, expecting him to be cocky and lie.

"No." Jake shook his head, just as Tobias himself came around the house behind them, having been listening the whole time. "Why would I bother, honestly? I'm a mechanic, not a soldier."

"Don't let my dad hear you saying that. You'd be at a gun range before you'd even be able to blink." Yuuki smirked, looking over at Jake again, only to notice her smirking father out of the corner of her eye. "... Fuck."

"To his credit, I understand why the idea of firing a gun given to you by someone you don't like isn't very appealing." Tobias commented as he approached. "Did you happen to see what kind of gun it is?"

"I can tell you every single piece and system in a car, what they do, and where they go... I don't know jack shit about guns, Mr. Darkwood." Jake stood up to regard the tall Russian. "If you want to see it, it's in my Jeep's glove box."

"I believe I shall." Tobias smirked before turning and walking away. He returned within a minute with the pistol in his left hand. "Somehow, I'm not surprised your father chose this piece of shit."

"What is it, Dad?" Yuuki turned to see the pistol in his hand. It wasn't one she'd seen. Ever.

"It's a PMR-30." Tobias replied, holding up the weapon. "Chambered in .22 Magnum, holds 30 rounds. It's an old Keltec gun that's notorious for malfunctioning. _Often_."

"So, fuck it?" Yuuki concluded with a raised eyebrow.

"Indeed." Tobias replied, removng the magazine and pulling the slide back. "So, Jake... Want a basic tutorial on how to operate a gun, or should we head down to the BSAA base and do a full training course?"

"Let's start with a basic tutorial and save the course for another time..." Jake sounded very nervous suddenly.

"Okay. We'll use your father's trash for this, since you won't be firing it." Tobias held up the PMR-30. "C'mere."

With that, the two girls watched as Tobias gave Jake a very basic operations tutorial of his own gun. In all of ten minutes, Jake concluded that he had it figured out enough to actually consider using it.

"Hey, Jake, I got a challenge for you." Yuuki suddenly smirked. "If you can get that glorified piece of plastic to go through a magazine without a malfunction - and with proof - I just might reconsider the structure of our... _relationship_. You feel me?"

It was such an unfair challenge, since Tobias had almost seventeen years of experience behind the trigger of a gun, he said the PMR-30 wasn't able to do that successfully. But, Yuuki, like her father, had a very sadistic side, and wanted to see Jake fail.

"I'll take that bet." Jake smiled as he accepted the loaded magazine from Tobias. "Of course, if your dad thinks this gun's shit, I don't really stand a chance in hell, do I?"

"One way to find out." Tobias smirked, already aware of what Yuuki was planning.


	16. Chapter 16

Yuuki narrowed her eyes in annoyance. Of all the times to actually succeed, it had to be on her first fucking try.

"Motherfucker..." She muttered to herself as she flipped herself back upright from her long, boring dive. She'd found an unclaimed submarine, and after a quick inspection of the hull, confidently concluded that the black metal surface bore not one, but two Umbrella octagons, one on the nose, the other on the conning tower. "I fucking knew it!"

* * *

Rising out of the water, she caught the gaze of several beach going civilians, who quickly whipped out cell phones to catch the youngest Darkwood in her natural habitat.

Ignoring the faint clicking, Yuuki flipped her hair out of her eyes and walked out of the water, drying in seconds. In the past three weeks, Darkwood had aired two new episodes, so it was back to clicking cameras and annoying gossip reporters. The next episode was scheduled to air tomorrow, so the recordings were done for today.

"Fancy seeing you here, hot stuff."

Yuuki, startled by the sound of Stella's cheeky voice, spun around to see the two cyborgs smiling at her.

"Oh, hey, Stella. Motoko." Yuuki suddenly became incredibly aware she was only wearing her bikini. The only other thing she had on was her knife, strapped to her leg, and her necklaces.

"Now, I know this might sound odd, but what were you looking for underwater? I saw you go in, and your expression tells me you found what you were looking for and didn't like what you saw."

Count it up to a cop to be right on the money. Yuuki thought to herself before replying. "More like I knew going in that my objective wasn't a good thing in the first place."

"Need a lift?" Motoko asked, since she couldn't see Jake, or Sherry, anywhere on the beach with her.

"I rode my bike, thanks." Yuuki fell into step with the two cyborgs, both of whom were wearing swimwear. Stella, of course, was wearing black. Somehow, Yuuki wasn't surprised by that.

"So, Yuuki, I got a question for you." Stella suddenly glanced over with a glint in her eyes. "If you don't mind me fangirling for a minute, that is."

"You're probably one of the few people I'd actually allow any sort of fan reaction. What's up?" Yuuki had learned a majority of what she knew about Stella from the movie, but a few conversations with the cyborg had corrected and added to the list. She knew that Stella was a big fan of Darkwood, so she felt inclined to indulge the 20 year old cyborg's addiction.

"What's the deal with you and that redhead with the scar on his face? He doesn't seem to be your type." Stella was talking about Jake, who'd been made the central figure of last week's episode. He'd briefly made an appearance in the previous episode, which was likewise about Alice's return.

"He's also not my gender." Yuuki laughed. "He's a friend, that's it. As much of a pussy magnet as I am, I need the occasional guy friend too, y'know."

"That... I cannot deny." Stella laughed as well. "Me and the missus are the only females in our entire unit. So, believe me, I know the feeling about gender inbalance."

"You're right. Sometimes, a fresh face can really help things." Yuuki nodded as they reached the lock up where her clothes were stored, only to find a bunch of paparrazzi milling around the locker. Touka didn't work at this section of the beach, so she lacked her privacy privilege. "Oh, for fuck sake!"

"Need a hand?" Stella reached for her right thigh, but Motoko grabbed her wrist to stop her. Apparently Stella's right leg concealed her second sidearm, a Beretta M92f with 3-round burst capability.

"Yeah, the clean up's a bitch." Yuuki's spider eyes snapped open, just as she activated ALL of her Kakugan... and her Kagune.

Yuuki rarely used her Kagune on land, since it was so much better to use it underwater. But, in situations like this, her claws weren't enough. She needed big, flashy, and powerful.

So, just above the hem of her bikini bottom, her back turned nearly black as her RC cells collected together and forced their way out of her flesh, forming a very long, very thin tail that quickly changed to end in a nearly three foot long blade, like a spear. She shoved two fingers into her lips and whistled loudly, bringing the attention of the papparazzi.

"Run." She threatened, and they all realized she was talking to them, but before they could get far, she'd incapacitated all but two of them. One was caught in her steely grasp, the other was cowering on his back with her Bikaku tail blade pressed against her throat. "Having fun, gentlemen?"

"Can't... breathe..." The one she'd caught by hand was behind held several inches off the ground, his throat caught in her clawed fingers as he started turning red.

"Who tipped you off that I was here?" Yuuki was oozing that infamous Darkwood intimidation she'd inherited from her father.

"Anonymous tip, we have no idea who it was." The downed one pointed at his pocket. "I wrote the number down, in case it was a fake."

"Which pocket?" Yuuki's Kakugan eyes were the only real way to tell with accuracy which direction her gaze was directed, since her normal solid blue eyes had no iris, no pupils... Nothing. Totally blue. She glanced from his face to his belt, then spotted the corner of the scrap paper. "Take it out."

He complied, slowly extending the folded page to her, but she quickly removed her Bikaku from his neck to impale the paper with the tip of the spear.

"Just because my family's show started back up doesn't mean you lowlife's can go snooping through my shit! Now fuck off before I work up an appetite, you creeps!" Yuuki threw the one in her hands against a wall, and kicked sand at the downed one before they both scrambled away.

"Somehow, I got turned on from that..." Motoko admitted as she approached Yuuki.

"Oh, absolutely. Totally sexy, hot stuff." Stella smiled as Yuuki took the paper from her Kagune - which crumbled away into nothingness - and unfolded the phone number.

"My dad's gonna love this..." Yuuki's fangs glinted as her lips split apart into a wide, sadistic smile. She recognized this number... And so would he. "Sorry, ladies, I gotta run. Got a creep to eat."

"Bon appetite, hot stuff. Give us a call later, would ya?" Stella gave a wave as Yuuki grabbed her stuff from the lockpicked locker and hurried away.

"Sure thing!" Yuuki waved her hand over her head as she ran to her bike.

"You got cockblocked." Motoko smiled, earning some rolled eyes from Stella.

"I know, _I know_." Stella replied. "Still not giving up though."

* * *

"No, I don't have any pictures." The fat camera man had his feet up on his desk, talking into his cell phone as he stared at his computer screen. "No, none of that either. I got nothing... No, the bitch with the purple hair kicked me off the crew for their retarded reality show."

As the man argued with his contact, he didn't notice the two sets of glowing blue eyes, one asymmetrical, the other a set of six, that appeared in the darkness outside of his dark office.

"Some fucking ginger kid with a scar argued with me beforehand... Yeah, the one on last week's episode or whatever. Muller, I think's his name."

The blue eyes turned towards each other, seemingly nodding at each other in the darkness.

"Wait, he is?! No way! What's our boss' son doing with those fucking monsters?!"

"Being an actual friend."

The fat reporter froze. That voice... Russian, with a distinctly Japanese undertone...

"I may be a lesbian, but he's actually quite attractive. For a guy, of course." The female voice continued speaking as a long spear-like blade slowly snaked through the open doorway from the shadows. "I just might reconsider my sexual orientation for that hunky redhead."

"Darkwood..." The reporter was screwed. One move, and off went his head. If he spoke, he was dead too.

"Hand over the phone." The male, solely Russian voice suddenly broke through the tense silence, so the reporter slowly removed it from his ear and held it out.

With a quick motion, the touchscreen device flew through the air into the hand of the male, who brought it to his ear and spoke.

"Neo-Umbrella, I presume?"

"Tobias... How _quaint_." The voice on the other end was heavily filtered, almost robotic. "Somehow, the fact you survived that napalm strike we arranged should've been expected."

"Quite." Tobias replied. "So tell me, how far up the chain of command are you? I can already tell that Albert Wesker is the leader of your organization."

"I'm... what you'd consider a Sergeant. Chairman Wesker, of course, is a General. Do that math, Soviet."

The line went dead. So, Tobias turned to Yuuki and nodded for her to kill the reporter.

"Don't worry, nothing personal. Girl's gotta eat, y'know." Yuuki stepped into the light of the computer behind the man, just as she swung her Bikaku with a dull whoosh.


	17. Chapter 17

"Fuck off, Darkwood! Just because you're famous doesn't mean you can be such a bitch!"

To nobody's surprise, Yuuki was in the middle of a huge fight with another girl. The sound of her powerful voice drastically contrasted with the shrill valley drawl of the girl she was arguing with.

"Bite me, skank! I'm not a bitch because I'm famous! I'm famous because I'm a bioweapon! Get your fucking facts straight before you open your mouth!"

Several teachers came out of their respective classrooms to see Yuuki leaning on a locker while the other girl - and several of her friends - crowded around the much taller, white haired goth.

"So who'd you kill this week, bitch? Cuz if you did, my daddy'll..." The girl on Yuuki's left snarled at the 'surrounded' goth, unaware of just how bad their positioning was.

"Do what?" Yuuki closed her eyes, sounding tauntingly bored by the proceedings. "Police can't touch me, I'm a Ghoul. CCG can't do fuck all either, I'm not a normal Ghoul. I'm a T-Ghoul." Yuuki suddenly stood up straight, causing the girls to take an instinctive step back. "So, tell me... Who among you is stupid enough to keep trying to argue with me, even though none of you have a valid argument in the first place?"

They all felt it. That shift in the air right before the first punch was thrown. But none of them could stand up to her now that she was towering over them.

"Move." Yuuki could tell. They had nothing on her. "Or do you want a quick lesson in human anatomy?" Her eyes turned into her Kakugan as her Kagune started to form in the small gap between her belt and her corset. "Us Ghouls have some special methods for teaching that particular subject."

"Miss Darkwood, that's enough." The principal came striding down the corridor. "No point in using... That."

"Oh look, a nice bureaucrat to save your worthless hides." Yuuki commented, shoving her way through the girls with her Kagune trailing behind her as it extended to the usual length of six feet. The large spear blade briefly scraped along the floor before whipping through the air to precisely cut all of the girls' bra straps with clean strikes. "Don't start a fight you can't foresee yourself winning."

"Miss Darkwood, that's enough!" The principal declared, but the spear blade gracefully swung towards his neck, stopping an inch away.

"I actually hate using my Kagune on land." Yuuki spoke in a low, dangerous voice. "So, not a word to my parents?"

"Fine, just this once." The principal agreed, then the weaponized organ crumbled away into dust as Yuuki sassily walked back down the hall.

"Pleasure doing business, sir." She smirked over her shoulder as the girls hurriedly tried to correct their sudden wardrobe malfunctions.

* * *

"Can I just point out how much you roll your hips when you walk?" Sherry teased her girlfriend as they walked out of the school at the end of the day.

"What? Jealous?" Yuuki knew she did that, one of the advantages of having such a great ass and nice legs was her walk. She knew how to sway her ass, roll her hips, strut her stuff. She had it all.

"Hardly... I'm admiring the view." Sherry kissed her neck, currently the only place she could reach, and smiled at her tall girlfriend. "But you're getting too damn tall!" She pouted at the last comment.

"Not my fault my dad's six foot seven!" Yuuki shook her head with a smile. "Besides, the T-Virus may have had at least some input into that as well. I heard that before he became a T-Ghoul, my dad was like, five nine or something like that. A bit shorter than my grandmother, in fact."

"Yeah... Your dad's huge. Not gonna lie." Sherry continued to pout. She was tiny compared to almost all of the Darkwood's. The only one that she was reasonably comparable to was Tabitha, otherwise known by her permanent nickname, Mishka, who stood at a very respectable five foot four. Apparently, back before Raccoon City, she had been stuck for a very long time at a measly four foot eleven.

"I know." Yuuki laughed. "I got my mom's good looks, my dad's hair, eyes and size, and the good ol' T-Virus!" She joked, just as Jake came up behind them through the crowds of students.

"Way to go Rize!" He joked, earning an unamused glare from Yuuki. "I'm kidding. Anyway, what's up?"

"I heard Dad's waiting to take you to the BSAA base. You still have the little matter of our bet, remember?" Yuuki smirked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Still haven't touched that fantastic plastic, have you?"

Jake knew she was talking about his PMR-30. "Nah, still in the glove box. Your dad's been teaching me with one of his guns... what's it called... the USP.45 or something."

"Oh, he's using Silence, huh?" Yuuki was mildly impressed. "That's my grandmother's old gun, y'know."

"I didn't, actually." Jake was keenly interested to learn the story behind the gun's apparent nickname. But that was for another time, of course.

* * *

"You know the basics, so now I'm going to teach you the same techniques I teach BSAA personnel." Tobias explained to Jake, who was staring at the three sidearms arranged in a neat row, each with their own full box of ammunition. "But first, I'd like you to choose which type of sidearm you want to use. These three are the ones the BSAA currently uses: Heckler & Koch USP.45's, Smith & Wesson M29's, and Beretta M92f's."

"Which one does your squad use?" Jake already knew his way around the H&K, so he was tempted to try the Beretta.

"USP.45's." Tobias replied. "But everyone receives the same training, regardless of their carry gun."

"Alright, let's give the Beretta a try first." Jake picked up the 9mm pistol and carefully checked it over, just like Tobias taught him over the past month.

"Good. Now, it kicks less than the USP, and it holds two more rounds. Load a mag, then we'll begin with some paper targets."

Ever since he'd been shown on Darkwood, Jake had become an almost instant hit, 'the ballsy human', 'red-dead-head', 'Yuuki's new boo', 'Spider bait', the names for him were numerous. Apparently the people watching Darkwood though he was insane for befriending the family... Especially Yuuki. He didn't care.

So, watching over the firearms training was one of the cameras for the show, clearly trying to gather more footage to use in the show. Tobias had ordered that the camera not be used in a large part of the BSAA base, so it was only really turned on in the training facility. Both men on the crew, plus Jake, were wearing hearing protection. Tobias didn't need them, since he'd grown so accustomed to gunfire for almost twenty years now.

Jake wasn't exactly a bad shot, but he definitely wouldn't be walking away any time soon. On the man-sized target, his shots were about a foot wide in spread.

"Tighten your wrist a bit more, that's going to help with the recoil." Tobias demonstrated with his own hand, locking his wrist. "And for fuck sake, slow down. It's not a race."

"Hypothetically, if I was being attacked, shouldn't I try to hit the target as many times as I can?" Jake asked as he loaded another magazine into the Beretta.

"No." Tobias replied. "That glorified gunfight in your mind... not gonna happen." Tobias took Silence off his belt and quickly aimed it towards another target, firing to quick shots into the target's 'chest' area. "That's it. Two shots. Few humans, or even normal Ghouls for that matter, can take two bullets to the chest without at least stumbling."

"What about your family?" Jake asked, curious.

"They're reasonably tough as is, but our regenerative capabilities far exceed that of a normal Ghoul. If the bullet manages to pierce one of them completely, then the entrance wound will already be healing. I'm the only one that cannot be shot, by any caliber, because my skin's density renders me completely bulletproof."

"Even a fifty cal?" Jake asked, skeptical.

"I have two of them at home, plus I designed a sniper rifle chambered in that round." Tobias reminded the teenager. "On impact, bullets disintegrate when they hit me. I can feel it, of course, but it cannot pierce." He lifted Silence to his own head and shot himself to prove it. "See? Bullet dust." He brushed the remnants of the .45 ACP round from his temple like it was harmless sand.

"Not what I had in mind, but now I believe you." Jake admitted as he returned to shooting the targets. "So, in your stumbling example, can a fifty cal do that to you?"

"Nope." Tobias replied. "I've shot myself in the head multiple times with both of mine, and my head doesn't even move."


	18. Chapter 18

"So, tell me..." Yuuki was smiling in an oddly creepy way as Jake realized she was leaning in the entrance of the auto-repair shop he worked at. He turned to face her as she continued speaking. "Has the fantastic plastic failed on you yet?"

"I haven't shot it." Jake replied, smirking. "Sounds like someone's a bit eager, wouldn't you agree?"

"I'm sadistic." Yuuki replied, uncrossing her arms and standing up straight. "I just really want to see you fail, Jake."

"We'll see, Yuuki... We'll see." Jake smirked before returning to his work on replacing a car's depleted battery.

* * *

"So, like... what if he actually succeeds, y'know?" Sherry asked as she laid on her back while Yuuki cleaned her borrowed Jetfire at her desk. "What if that gun of his doesn't fail when he tries to actually shoot it?"

"Like I said when I made that bet, I'll reconsider my relationship with him. I didn't actually say I'd fuck him." Yuuki replied, checking the inside of the small barrel after vigourously scrubbing it with a wirebrush. "Dad said it himself, that gun's a piece of shit. It's almost guaranteed to malfunction, so the likeliness of him firing all 30 bullets is almost zero."

"I get that, but what if it doesn't? Hypothetically, he gets that gun to shoot all the bullets, without a hitch, then what'll you do? You can't exactly back out of this." Sherry continued.

"Then I guess I'm bisexual and polyamorous." Yuuki joked. "In all likeliness, I'd probably test the waters with him, see how he takes it. If he's willing to accept that he's a side thing... then fine. I'll handle that. But if the thought of him even attempting to replace you crosses his mind, I'm going to get a shark to bite his dick off."

"Even for you, that's a bit... excessive." Sherry shuddered at the thought. She wasn't entirely against Jake in any way, he was respectful, polite, and had a sense of humour. Overall, a likeable guy. So the thought of him incurring Yuuki's notoriously over-the-top wrath wasn't within reasonable consideration. It was damn near unthinkable.

"Not really." Yuuki replied as she started to put the gun back together. "The chances of him even thinking about going into the ocean with me at that point are even less than his fantastic plastic firing all 30 bullets without fucking up."

"You have a point there..." Sherry agreed, finally putting the topic to rest.

* * *

"Alright, camera's recording. You may begin whenever you're ready, Jake." The camera crew reported to Jake, who was flexing his fingers on the grip of his PMR-30.

"To the world over, I am not going to attempt a challenge given to me by Yuuki Darkwood. The challenge is to fire this pistol, a Keltec PMR-30, without the gun malfunctioning. Her father, Tobias, informed us that this old gun is a piece of shit and it notorious for malfunctions. So, let's see if I get lucky... or the gun lives up to it's reputation." Jake spoke towards the camera before clicking the safety off and raising the pistol towards the paper target.

He started firing, keeping a proper stance and grip the whole time. In his head, he was counting down the number of remaining bullets, keeping his face neutral as he surpassed twenty rounds.

Yuuki herself came into the BSAA shooting range with Tobias at that moment, her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she watched Jake fire off the last few bullets before the gun clicked empty.

"That's fucking bullshit." She spoke up as he ejected the magazine to check for any remaining bullets, even though he'd counted a full thirty shots. "How the hell did you pull that off?!"

Jake looked over, surprised by her appearance and the fact he'd just succeeded. "I... wasn't expecting that either, to be honest. Camera's been recording the whole time, gave a speech and everything. Proof is there, if you want to rewatch it."

"Looks like you have some thinking to do, Yuki-onna." Tobias leaned closer to her ear with a smirk on his face. " _Have fun_."

* * *

Yuuki was pacing around her bedroom like a caged animal, deep in thought. She brought this upon herself, so she knew better than to back down from the bet now that he'd managed to succeed.

Grabbing the top of her head with a frustrated growl, Yuuki tried to justify a valid reason to not go ahead with her foolish idea. She'd jokingly considered taking Jake on a date, in the off chance he would succeed in shooting all thirty bullets. Now that the cocky prick did it, she was at a loss. It wasn't a joke anymore. It was legit.

" _FUCK_!" Yuuki snarled, not even sure which of her three languages she'd just used. She was too angry, frustrated and stressed to care right now.

What should she do?!

* * *

Alice kept glancing up from her book every few minutes, unable to focus on the pages when she could literally feel Yuuki's waves of frustration coming from upstairs. What was she so upset about?

"You seem distracted, Miss Abernathe." The sound of Jake's voice broke through her reverie, bringing her gaze to the young redhead. "Is something bothering you?"

"Well, to put it into understandable terms..." Alice lowered her book. "I can feel the emotional energy that Yuuki's giving off, and she's not in a good mood right now."

"From the T-Virus, right?" Jake knew that most things they had to simplify describing were usually T-Virus related.

"Yeah, it is." Alice replied. "I can always tell what Toby's thinking, even when he doesn't say anything."

"But you rely on your other senses with everyone else, right?" Jake asked, and Alice gave a half shrug.

"Sort of. I'm starting to pick up on Yuuki and Rize quite a bit. Kaneki and Tabitha are still a bit hard to read sometimes. Especially Kaneki." Alice smiled at the thought of her older son's mask-like stoicism.

"So I've noticed." Jake replied, having only met Kaneki a few times.

It was at this moment that Jake noticed out of the corner of his eye that one of the camera teams were in the living room. They were, of course, recording the chat.

"Now you're the distracted one, Jake." Alice mused, her eyes twinkling slightly.

"Still not used to seeing cameras, I guess." Jake shrugged. "I mean, I'm getting famous for being friends with you guys, since nobody's got the balls to treat you like real people."

"I wouldn't say it that way, myself... But I understand what you mean." Alice rested her leg over her knee, putting her arm on the back of the couch casually. "Our existence as bioweapons alienates us from the general public, but on top of that, we're Ghouls, making us have an even bigger social disconnect. Add in the fact we're the last living remnants of Umbrella, and we're pretty separated from society. So, Rize and Tobias came up with the idea of the show as a means to show our 'human' side, if that's the word for it. Despite being these all powerful flesh eating monsters, we still have our own personalities, likes, dislikes, and interests." Alice suddenly leaned forward, resting her arms onto her elbows. "Do you know what the six of us adult T-Ghouls do for a living?"

"I know that Rize's a writer." Jake replied. "Tobias is a soldier in the BSAA, you're some sort of support staff person there as well, right?"

"Language and communications specialist." Alice replied.

"Right. Serenity's an artist, and as odd as this sounds, I've heard of her before I met you guys." Jake replied. "Saw one of her exhibits on a class trip last year."

"Impressive. Now, what about Kaneki and Tabitha?" Alice queried, but Jake shook his head.

"Mishka's a martial arts instructor and Uncle Kaneki's a high school English teacher. He also teaches students how to read and speak Japanese." Yuuki came marching around the living room entrance, still in a bit of a mood by the sound of her voice.

"See? Despite our deposition towards carnage, we're still people." Alice continued. "Look at Rize and Toby. They're not exactly the picture perfect pair, but the proof's standing right behind you in a bad mood, Jake." Alice cheekily pointed towards Yuuki's scowling face.

"Very funny." Yuuki sneered slightly as she spun on her heel and left, but quick as a flash, her Kagune whipped around the corner and neatly wrapped itself around Jake's shoulders before suddenly hauling him backwards through the air, part confused, part expecting that to happen.

"Yuuki!?" Alice rose to her feet, striding around the corner with the camera crew in tow. She paused in her tracks, stunned by the sight she was witnessing.

Yuuki's Kagune was holding the slightly shorter redhead up off the floor, his back against the wall, giving her much easier access to do what she was doing. Jake's eyes were wide open with shock, unsure of what to even do in this situation.

The camera crew got a brief shot of the captured kiss, but Alice quickly turned on them with a scowl.

"Delete that... _now_."


	19. Chapter 19

"... Social media is in an absolute uproar over the latest teen drama! News of the latest hookup in the celebrity scene is trending on both sides of the coin. One side, the supporters, are in awe. The other, the ones that disagree, are brandishing the hashtag 'Spider Bite' in protest of this monumental pairing!"

Stella shut the TV off, scowling. She didn't mind that Yuuki had gotten together with that Jake boy, but the media feeding frenzy was what was getting on her nerves.

"I seriously don't see the point in bitching and complaining. It's her choice who she dates, male or female." Stella commented aloud, to which Motoko heaved a sigh.

"She was an object of desire, for both males and females. Now that she's split between her two lovers, the ones that desired her are in protest."

"Still don't see why they're complaining. Still her choice." Stella leaned back on the couch, crossing her legs. "It's like they're trying to start a war over who gets into her pants, even though they're not the ones actually receiving that privilege in the first place."

"So are you a supporter or a hater?" Motoko teased her wife, who smirked over her shoulder.

"I'm the leader of the ' _Gimme dat butt!_ ' separatist faction."

* * *

"Kid, you sure your parents gave the okay for this?" The big burly tattoo artist questioned the redhead sitting in his studio.

"My parents aren't in the picture." Jake replied. "I can pay extra, if that'll convince you."

"How about an extra fifty bucks, then it's a deal?" The artist asked, to which Jake nodded.

"Deal."

* * *

Yuuki idly ran her tongue along the tips of her four fangs, growing more and more impatient by the second. She hadn't seen Jake all week, and she'd arranged for them to finally go on their first date today, away from the prying eyes of the paparazzi and those piranha's called fans of her family's show.

Just hours after the latest episode aired, the one where she'd been caught kissing Jake, the internet practically exploded into a war over the incident. The camera crew's setup sent in all of the recorded footage directly to the studio, and unfortunately, according to the contract the family had with the studio, they had no grounds for deleting footage. Once it was caught on camera, it was done. They only had a few circumstances where the cameras weren't allowed, and that wasn't anywhere in the house, save for the bathrooms.

"Yo."

Yuuki glanced over in the direction of the voice, disappointed to see a man with a cigarette between his lips.

"Pardon me, but do you have a light?" The man indicated his unlit smoke, and Yuuki nodded, reaching into the pocket of her hoodie to withdraw her zippo lighter.

She herself didn't smoke, but there were some instances were a lighter was useful. And she honestly liked the design of zippo's.

After lighting the man's cigarette, he nodded and gave his thanks, leaving her where she was as he walked away and blew out a lungful of smoke.

She wasn't dressed in a way that gave away her appearance. A simple, lightweight hoodie, cutoff jean shorts and running shoes were what she had on. In the early evening air, it felt nice to ditch her usual leather outfits and her corsets. The gently blowing sea breeze felt great on her legs, but it wasn't enough to give her a chill thanks to the hoodie.

Of course, the hoodie was pulled up over her hair, and she had her sunglasses on to hide her eyes. All in all, just a typical teenage girl.

"Hey there."

Yuuki recognized that voice, it was Jake! She turned to him, oddly excited to see him. He had the barest hint of a bandage visible under his shirt collar.

"What happened to your shoulder?" Yuuki immediately felt a pang of concern. Unlike with her family or Sherry, Jake lacked regenerative powers. If he was hurt, he stayed hurt until it eventually healed.

"Nothing serious. Hurt myself at work on a backboard when I slid out from under a car." Jake replied with a smile. "Doesn't hurt anymore, if that's what you're going to ask."

"I don't smell any blood." Yuuki commented, mostly to herself, but Jake easily heard it as they began to walk down the street.

"Because it's not bleeding anymore. Hasn't been for two days." Jake laughed slightly. "So, what's this date you planned for us? I'm rather curious about what you had in mind."

"You'll see when we get there." Yuuki teased him, smiling slightly.

* * *

"This... might actually be fun to see." Tobias commented to Serenity, who was enveloping the two of them in her invisibility while Tobias kept them levitating in the air above the paintball arena. "Jake's getting better with his marksmanship, but is it enough to keep up with my daughter?"

"One way to find out, that's for sure." Serenity was likewise keen to see the events unfold. But, she had her own reasons. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about Jake was making her feel a nagging sensation of suspicion. That boy was up to something, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

* * *

Jake flexed his fingers on the paintball gun he'd been given, surrounded by a few other guys. On the other team, all of the girls stood at the ready. Apparently Yuuki found out that this particular arena had a couples night every thursday, so she got them in.

"Yo, ginger, which one's your girl?" One of the guys nearby asked through his mask to Jake, who turned and replied while pointed over at Yuuki.

"The tall one with the shorts."

"Lucky prick." The guy grumbled to himself as the buzzer sounded and everyone sprang into action.

The rules of the match were simple: Go nuts. Don't aim for the head. Have fun. Apparently it was an idea from the owner after a birthday party they hosted fifteen years earlier. Yuuki had briefly explained that the first occurrence was a tournament style match, and the event ended in a duel between a mother and her son, and the son won by a landslide. Somehow, the description reminded Jake of Tobias' confidence and skill behind the trigger of a gun. Anything was possible, right?

Paintballs were whistling through the air as the six couples had a shootout in the rough center of the arena, taking cover and trying to flank each other. Jake spotted a glint of bright blue through a mask that peeked over the railing on a short tower, realizing it was Yuuki.

He quickly took aim and fired several shots to force her back down, then patted the nearest guy's shoulder to get his attention.

"Cover me, there's one in that tower on the left."

"Got it!" The guy gave a nod, just as a paintball grazed the side of his mask in a splatter of bright yellow paint. "Go!"

Jake vaulted over a fence and ran for a clear shot at Yuuki, who popped out again and spotted him flanking away from the main group.

"You two! Cover the right flank! My boyfriend's trying to flank us!" Yuuki called out to a nearby pair of girls, who gave nods before positioning themselves to defend.

Jake heard the callout and stopped moving behind a concrete wall. "DAMN IT!"

"I've got six eyes, Jake. You can't flank me like that." Yuuki called out in Russian. "Nice try, darling!" She added in English as Jake took several shots at her in frustration.

"Shit." Jake leaned around the wall to evaluate their defense. Two on their right flank, Yuuki was in the tower - clearly taking charge as the team leader - and the last three were holding the front line.

He hid behind the wall again, thinking hard. With Yuuki's expanded field of vision, flanking wasn't very possible. Her position in the tower gave her an even larger view of the situation below, and she had him practically pinned down.

With the 'no headshots' rule, he couldn't blind her visor to stop her from being able to see. His only real option was keeping her pinned down behind the railing. Could he pull it off? Or was he stuck here behind the wall?

Wait! He had an idea!

"FOCUS FIRE ON THE TOWER! KEEP HER PINNED DOWN!" Jake called to his team mates, who started hailing Yuuki's elevated position with shots. Jake himself sprinted out from behind the wall as fast as he could, headed for the short ramp that lead up to Yuuki's tower.

Yuuki was pissed. Without being able to stick her head out, she couldn't keep track of Jake. She suddenly looked up to see him standing on the ramp without so much as a single hit on him.

"Miss me?" Jake asked in Russian, his paintball gun already leveled in her direction.

"Clearly I did." Yuuki sighed, covered in dozens of successful hits herself.

 _SPLAT!_

* * *

When Yuuki and Jake returned to the house, Yuuki was still covered in a myriad of brightly coloured paint, none to pleased by the fact that Jake had somehow managed to remain spotless.

"Don't look so pleased, Jake." Yuuki scowled as she unlocked the front door. "You got fucking lucky. That's it."

"I know that." Jake hadn't stopped smiling the whole time. "Doesn't mean I didn't have fun though."

"Hmmm... You have a point there." Yuuki admitted. Despite the resounding defeat, she'd had fun at the paintball game.

"I'm not sure who I should be speaking to... You for... that." Rize was standing in the front entrance as soon as the two teens entered. She gestured to Yuuki covered in paint, then directed her gaze to Jake. "Or you for that extremely amused smile on your face."

"Isn't it obvious? I missed." Yuuki replied as she kicked her shoes off, planning to have a quick shower in the hope of removing all the paint. "A lot."

"I can see that." Rize replied, not sure whether to laugh or not. "And you?"

"Well, I think the evidence speaks for itself." Jake smiled. "I didn't miss... very much."

Now Rize laughed. "Alright, alright, get yourself cleaned up. Jake, have you eaten yet?"

"Yeah, I grabbed a slice of pizza on the way back. Yuuki hasn't eaten yet." Jake could tell that Rize was about to offer him something to eat.

"Alright then." Rize nodded before walking away.

"I'll be right back. Gonna try to get this shit off." Yuuki hurried upstairs. "You can wait up here, if you want."

Jake instinctively could tell that Yuuki wasn't actually requesting that he join her upstairs. It was somehow... an order. He nodded before joining her in her room, taking a seat at her desk.

"Something on your mind?"

"My dad and Aunty Sere were at the paintball arena." Yuuki commented as she gathered a change of clothes from her dresser. "I get the strange feeling they were spying on us, rather than just watching like normal parents."

"Where were they, in particular? I didn't see either of them in the grandstands." Jake asked as Yuuki grabbed her towel from the back of her door.

"My dad's Telekinetic, he can make stuff float in the air... They were above my tower the whole time."

"Isn't Serenity's powers illusions and invisibility related?" Jake asked, to which Yuuki nodded. "So they were using their powers in tandem... Interesting."

"I'll ask about it later. Hopefully when the cameras aren't here on monday." Yuuki frowned at the memory of the breach of privacy last week. "Anyway, you wait here. I won't be long."

"Want me to put this back together? Seems like you forgot about it." Jake indicated the Beretta Jetfire, which was partially disassembled on the desk.

"Go for it. Just don't load it." Yuuki gave a small wave before leaving her room.

Jake smiled as he turned his attention to the self defense gun. From what he recognized, Yuuki had done a basic field strip. He could figure it out, no problem.

(LINE BREAK)

"That is all, sir."

The soldier finished his report before lowering the documents to his side, staring straight ahead in the command deck of the massive ship. Seated before him was a man in a black suit resting his knuckles on his cheek, clearly the one in charge.

"And what news do you have regarding my son?" The Austrian man hadn't moved, speaking without so much as moving his head an inch.

"From the available sources, we have determined he is still succeeding with his assigned task of gathering intel on Subject 7, sir."

"Hmmm..." Wesker considered the full report silently for several seconds then came to a snap decision. "Contract a team to pay Subject 7 another visit. Make sure my son is there. I want to test him and his loyalty."

"Preferred attack methods, sir?" The soldier asked, already gathering a mental list of likely candidates for the attack.

"Bold, I want it to send a message." Wesker replied. "Have them attack her in broad daylight anywhere except for their home or the school. Have a pair of recon drones in place over the two buildings."

"Understood, sir."


	20. Chapter 20

"How's your shoulder doing?" Yuuki asked, glancing at Jake's injured shoulder.

"Spoke to my doctor, said I can take off the bandage tomorrow." Jake replied as he tore off a chunk of the apple he was eating. "So, we're going to meet up with Sherry, right?"

"Yeah, she got us tickets to a concert." Yuuki replied, passing around a dog walker as they walked to the concert.

"What band?" Jake asked, keeping pace with her longer strides.

"In This Moment." Yuuki replied. "Bit of an older band, but they're pretty cool."

Jake nodded in understanding. The band sounded like it was worth giving a try.

Several minutes later, they spotted the growing crowd of people lined up at the entrance to the concert hall. Less than a minute after they arrived, Sherry managed to find them and happily kissed Yuuki the second she'd reached her.

"Hey there." Yuuki smiled, holding Sherry close. "So, tell me... How long's the concert?"

"Two or three hours, I think. Maybe a bit more." Sherry replied. "I got us good seats, don't you worry."

* * *

"Target's entering a building." The drone technician reported to Wesker, who was standing behind them with his arms crossed. "High civilian count in the area. Additional security on premises."

"Confirm hit squad's current location." Wesker ordered to another technician, who hailed the team on a radio. After a moment, the tech relayed the received message.

"They are currently fifteen kilometers away. Twenty minutes by vehicle in current traffic conditions."

"Have them prepare an ambush outside the main entrance of the building. Arrange with our personnel in the local law enforcement to delay action in the departments." Wesker ordered before walking away.

* * *

At the end of the concert, Sherry, Yuuki and Jake were all in rather good - though partially deafened - spirits. They all enjoyed the band and the music.

Filing out of the concert hall with the rest of the crowds, Yuuki happened to glance up and briefly see several men milling around the front of the building with backpacks, each giving off a very sinister presence.

Then she inhaled through her nose...

"Jake, Sherry, we've got a problem." She spoke quietly, keeping an eye on the men as they seemed to be scanning the crowds. "I can smell gunpowder on those guys with the backpacks."

"You two have your guns on you, right?" Sherry immediately asked. She didn't have one, so she needed to rely on them to fend off any attacks.

"I got mine, yeah." Yuuki replied. "Three magazines. Jake?"

"Yeah, same. I got four." Jake glanced around to count their numbers. Six guys. "They're probably after us, I think they're working for my dad."

"Get ready to run. If they shoot first, we head right to your Jeep, okay Jake?" Yuuki pulled her phone out and sent her dad a quick text. She hit send just as one of the men pointed in their direction.

"There they are!"

That was it, the signal the Neo-Umbrella team needed. They all pulled pistols out and started to advanced, just as Yuuki herself held her Jetfire straight into the air and pulled the trigger.

 _BANG!_

Immediately the crowd of civilians started to panic, all running away as the team of soldiers started to exchange shots with the three teens, who were running for the Jeep two blocks away.

"Fucking bastards!" Yuuki snarled as she shot one in the leg to halt his attempt to reach cover. She'd already activated her Scale Mail and was using the armoured mutation to bodyblock her friends.

"She's using her Skin! Switch to AP weapons!" One of the soldiers called out, so all six men scrambled to retrieve their other weapons from their backpacks, producing submachine guns or assault rifles in quick order.

"Yuuki, you good?!" Jake asked, firing over some cover where he and Sherry were hiding.

"So far, yeah!" Yuuki hadn't fired her first mag yet, but she was still exposed. "Sherry, catch!"

She threw her phone to her girlfriend, who caught it and saw the message she'd sent to her father. "Got it!" She knew what her task was.

"Open fire on Subject 7!" One of the soldiers dragged his wounded companion to cover as he shouted the order.

Yuuki had a vague idea that Subject 7 was her, so she quickly opened her spider eyes and scanned the area for some decent cover. After half a second, she dove to the side and rolled to hide behind a car just as a burst of automatic gunfire followed her sudden movement.

"Yuuki, you alright?!" Jake called as he fired several shots with his Beretta M92f - given to him by Tobias, of course - to force two men into cover.

"Yeah, I'm good!" Yuuki checked herself over, finding no wounds nor pain. "You alright too?"

"Yeah! Sherry's good as well!"

Yuuki glanced up over her car's hood to check on the soldiers attacking them. They were sporadically firing at the car or at Jake's patch of cover. They themselves were using cars and the music hall's entry area as cover, split into three pairs.

"Yuuki! He said two minutes!" Sherry yelled over the gunfire, finally getting a reply from Tobias.

"You keep your head down, Sherry! Jake, cover me!" Yuuki leaned down under the car and shot one man in the stomach, causing him to keel over against a car's tire. She fired again under his arm, into his lung, but missed her third shot. Her gun clicked empty, so she hurriedly pulled a new magazine from her pocket and reloaded the Jetfire while Jake kept the men at bay.

"You get him?" Jake asked, reloading his own gun with a new magazine.

"He's still alive, but I hit him, yeah!" Yuuki scowled as she checked over the car, but was forced back down with returned fire. " _Fuck!_ "

"You okay?!" Jake saw the attempt, unsure if she'd been hit or not.

"I'm good. I'm good." Yuuki tried again, bringing her gun up and returning fire. "Sherry, how long?!"

"One more minute!" Sherry had been counting down the time, huddling beside Jake.

"Nyet... _Now_."

All three of them heard Tobias speak, but the next thing they knew, they were covered by his Ice Skin as they heard him start to laugh at the soldiers.

"You have no idea how much you've just fucked up..."

"SUBJECT FOUR! SUBJECT FOUR!" The soldiers all immediately turned to run, shouting for each other to retreat. They weren't equipped to deal with... _him_.

"Cute." Tobias smirked before launching into the air and neatly landing ahead of them. "You thought you could run. How adorable."

Jake, Sherry and Yuuki knew he was toying with them, but suddenly five super loud gunshots went off, followed by the sounds of five bodies hitting the ground.

"Now, I think you and I need to have a bit of a chat..." Tobias spoke with obvious amusement as he grabbed the only survivor - the one that Yuuki had wounded - by the throat. "So make this easy on both of us, and I'll skip the torture, agreed?"

* * *

"Sir... Subject Four eliminated most of the team and took one hostage." The drone technician reported what had happened. "The attack has failed."

"I know. It wasn't meant to succeed." Wesker replied in a bored voice. He knew that Subject 7 - Yuuki - would immediately call for her father's assistance the second the bullets started flying. It was little surprise that he arrived so quickly, and almost expected that he take down the non-wounded members of the attack team. He himself would've done the same, in that context.

* * *

"That... That's all I know." The wounded Neo-Umbrella soldier was panting for breath, no thanks to Yuuki's shot under his arm into his lung. He was sweating profusely and very pale as the two male Ghouls, Subject 4 and 5, stared at him in silence.

"And the weapons you were issued for the attack?" Tobias spoke up. The attack team had been equipped with SCAR-H assault rifles, P90 submachine guns, and Five-Seven pistols. All were made by the Belgian firearms company FN. That hinted at the possibility of a secret contract with the company, meaning not only a money trail, but also a list of contacts.

"They were placed at a dead drop. We were given our mission by phone, and instructed to attack your daughter upon sighting her." The soldier replied. "I haven't seen the men on the team before, it was the first time I've met any of them."

"Who gave the orders to attack her?"

"Albert Wesker, the leader of the organization I work for." The soldier replied. "Neo-Umbrella."

"That we already know." Kaneki pointed out.

"So... knowing you've been wounded, captured and interrogated, if you were one of my soldiers, I'd expect the worse and consider you KIA. Do you understand the circumstances you're in?" Tobias stared at the wounded soldier, who nodded weakly.

"I was just following orders..." The man knew his fate was sealed.

"I know." Tobias replied, gently putting his hand onto the soldier's shoulder. "I'll make it quick, but I regret to inform you that your body will be made an example of."

"I understand... Sir." The soldier nodded just before Tobias' knife went into the back of his head.


	21. Chapter 21

"So, it seems I know where your loyalties stand, Jacob."

"Don't you fucking start, jackass!" Jake snarled into his phone. "Your men shot at me, seems fair I should defend myself!"

"You misunderstand." Wesker began, but Jake interrupted him.

"No, you misunderstand. This little crusade you've got against them, it's fucking terrorism. The second he gets his hands on you, I'm pretty fucking sure that Tobias isn't going to repeat the same mistake again."

Before Wesker could respond, Jake hung up and tossed his phone onto his desk. "Fucking asshole..." He muttered to himself, then his phone rang a few moments later, and he glared at it before realizing it wasn't his father.

"Hello, Jake speaking."

"Jake, it's Rize. My husband wants to speak to you about the attack. Do you mind coming over?"

"On my way." Jake replied and quickly hung up.

* * *

"I've pulled some strings in the police and government. The Secret Service is conducting an investigation into a lead I've uncovered. As for you three, I've gotten you legal rights to carry firearms in excess of California gun laws. So, you three are coming with me to get your guns and put in some range time over at the BSAA base."

"I already have one though..." Jake spoke up, since he still had his Beretta hidden on his belt, under his shirt.

"I know. You still need some range time." Tobias replied. "Ladies, you're the ones I'm more concerned about, especially you, Sherry."

"Why me?" Sherry asked, confused and concerned herself.

"Because you weren't able to properly defend yourself. That's why." Tobias explained. "And I can teach you how to shoot, so it won't be much of a problem."

"What about my parents?"

"They already know. I got their approval earlier today." Tobias replied. "So, let's get going."

* * *

The North American BSAA Alpha Team's notoriety for being a highly disciplined, expertly trained and extremely effective military unit - even among the other BSAA Aplha Teams scattered worldwide - were almost exclusively in thanks to Tobias. He was the one that designed their signature T-13 Exo-suits, he personally trained them in almost all regards, and of course, he was the team's leader. To send Aplha Team into a confirmed bioterror situation was guaranteed to be a swift, flawless mission.

So, for the three teenagers that had only heard the stories, seeing the full squad of eight standing with very knowing grins on their faces was reason enough to know they were in for a wake up call.

"Alright now, boys, be gentle with this one, alright?" Yuuki quickly got over her anxiety and stepped forward while gesturing towards Jake. "He's a weak little human... Well, no. He's _my_ weak little human, so you break him, I break you. We good?"

Jake's face was an odd mixture of amused and annoyed, but then he realized that Tobias was chuckling behind them.

"You shouldn't be worrying about him as much as yourself." Tobias' normal eye was glinting with amusement as Yuuki went a bit pale. "Half of my team are Ghouls, the other half are humans." He smirked suddenly, denoting his sadistic nature was rising to the surface. "The Ghouls complain about the training more, because they need to fight with Kagunes as well."

Yuuki sucked air in between her teeth before saying the first word that came to her mind. _"Fuck."_

* * *

Even though they were just getting new pistols - for today, that is - the nearly cruel intensity of the training they were being forced through was beginning to show on the trio. In a surprising twist, Yuuki wasn't the first to get mad and start complaining... It was Sherry.

"Do you mind _not_ trying to make me have a mental breakdown?! I'm having a hard enough time shooting a gun for the first time, the _least_ you could do is not YELL AT ME!" Sherry got very mad, stomping her foot as she finished yelling at her two soldiers. Finn, the team's human demolitions expert, and James, a partially cyborg Ghoul that served as the team's engineer and medic, were both beginning to laugh at her rosy red cheeks and curled fist around her USP.45's grip.

"We've gone through this exact same training with the Captain. You're being let off easy. Now, reload and start again." Finn may be young, but he wasn't wrong. To achieve the privilege of gracing the ranks of the team, it had nearly cost him his sanity - twice - to complete the training under Tobias himself.

Nearby, Jake was showing great promise - since he'd been taught the basics by Tobias - with his own USP.45. Because of this, he had some expectations to fulfill from Piers, the team's human sniper, and Carlos Oliviera, the team's last human - partially cyborg from a recent injury - and their heavy gunner. One mistake, and they would immediately force a full reset. He wasn't complaining, but he certainly was getting tired.

Lastly, of course, Yuuki's two handlers were Ghouls. Kevin, the team's pointman, and Jason, the team's scout, were putting her through the paces with the USP.45. Even with her superior physical capabilities, she was getting not only frustrated, but very dehydrated. Pretty soon, she'd be in the danger zone and pass out.

Watching over the groups, Tobias, Chris, and Ben the team's last Ghoul - Their radioman and communications specialist - were watching with calculating gazes.

"Strictly on a skill level, Jake is clearly the best of the three." Ben was a bit older than the two of them, but he had a good eye. Jake was indeed shooting better than the girls, even with his occasional mistakes.

"I agree." Tobias nodded, completely unbiased in his thinking. "Sherry's going to definitely need some work."

"To be fair, this is her first time with a gun in her hand. I doubt even you had it easy during your first session, Captain." Chris had his arms crossed, smirking at Tobias while watching him in the corner of his eye.

"Natural talent." Tobias smirked, remembering all those years ago how quickly and easily he'd picked up a gun... well, not all guns, but a gun regardless. Victory, his sawn off double barrel 10 guage shotgun was named such for a good reason, after all. "My first full magazine's grouping at thirty feet was three inches wide."

"Now you never fucking miss, do you?" Ben asked, chuckling as Tobias shook his head.

"That's an understatement." Tobias glanced over at his daughter, noticing that she was panting for breath far too much. Right away he knew she was dehydrated, so he called for a full halt. "Kevin, Piers, grab everyone something to drink, it's about time for them to have a break."

Right away the pair left the shooting range, letting the exhausted trio of teens give sighs of relief as they all fell to their knees. Yuuki, of course, was swearing colourfully under her breath in all three of the languages she knew.

"I know." Yuuki didn't even need to turn to know her dad was the one behind her. "I should've said something about it."

"You're my daughter, like it or not, you have some expectations in their minds. The Virus makes us stand out, our physical capabilities outclass even the most powerful Ghouls." Tobias held out his hand, letting her grip it securely before he pulled her upright, clearly unsteady from the growing dehydration's effects on her.

As much as he didn't like it, her strength was also her weakness. If anyone found out about her Hydrokinetic dependency on humidity and water, it could be very easily exploited. He knew that first hand, since his own Cryokinesis was susceptible to heat and fire even if his body itself no longer bore that weakness.

"So, remind me again who it was that made the Virus?" Yuuki's grip tightened on her father's arm, and her breathing was heavy.

"James Marcus, but I know for a fact that his sorry ass is dead. Got assassinated ten years before I worked for Umbrella. Internal politics, if I recall." Tobias smirked, helping her over to where Piers and Kevin returned with bottles of water for everyone. "C'mon, let's get you topped off."


	22. Chapter 22

A full month of school, gun training and Darkwood episodes had finally taken it's toll on Yuuki. Their first semester of school was coming to an end, and their exams - though not insanely difficult subjects - were looming menacingly. Not only that, the torture that her father called training wasn't a walk in the park either, even for her - hydrated or not - it was exhausting.

Then there was Darkwood's invasive cameras and the drama she was bombarded with. Apparently she'd been quoted saying something in Russian - the show's editors translated all of their Russian and Japanese commentary and added subtitles - that had sparked a huge debate online among the fans. She didn't even remember what she'd said, making the whole thing even worse online.

So, she was pissed. Dangerous territory as it was, she already had a plan in mind to handle it and finally get a break from all of the bullshit. And that plan involved a certain pair of sexy cyborgs... who were currently listening to the agitated T-Ghoul vent her frustrations.

"I'm getting to the end of my rope with all this crap, I need some help. It's nothing illegal, trust me, I just need a break, it's getting..." Yuuki had one hand one her forehead, right over one pair of her closed spider eyes, pacing back and forth in front of the two cyborgs, who were seated on the couch of the small apartment they were staying in. Yuuki hadn't asked, but she knew they had temporarily gone back to Japan, only to return here to LA within a week.

"Well, for starters, stop pacing and sit down, sweetheart." Stella had her black metal legs crossed and both arms draped over the back of the couch. "Then we'd like to hear about that plan of yours. Think you can manage that?"

Yuuki stopped dead in her tracks when Stella chuckled at her, so the young cyborg continued speaking in a calming voice. "Before you can even dream of whatever you're planning, you need to calm down. Now, I can pounce on you and fuck your brains out..." Stella's eyes glinted with shamelessly obvious lust. "Or, you can sit down and have a drink so we can talk. Personally, I'd prefer the former, but it's your call, babe."

Yuuki's cheeks went pink at Stella's unashamed sexual advance on her, but even that wasn't what she needed right now. She needed help from an adult - yes, technically Stella was indeed an adult, despite her occasional display of immaturity - that wasn't already involved, like her parents. Alice was busy on something with the Neo-Umbrella investigation overseas, and her aunts and uncle had their respective careers. So, although not her first choice on the matter, the Kusanagi's were likely her only option.

"I'll handle that." Motoko, who was preparing three coffees with sugar and milk - leaving one without, for Yuuki - spoke up about her wife's primal desires. "So, now that you've had a chance to get things off your chest, you need to stop and take a moment to clear your head. Yuuki, please, sit down and have a drink."

Motoko was the oldest of the trio, so she clearly knew what to say to not only calm Yuuki down, but also deal with her horny wife. As she spoke though, she'd been stirring one of the cups with a spoon, tactfully timing the request for Yuuki by stopping the spoon's rhythmic rattling against the cup.

Yuuki glanced at her neutral expression, then at the coffee left for her, then finally conceded and sat in the unoccupied armchair, holding the cup in both hands as Motoko smiled at her.

"Now, before we get too ahead of ourselves..." Motoko pointedly glanced at Stella's unashamed expression before continuing to speak in a calm, level voice to the young T-Ghoul. "How about filling us in on your plan? We already know it's to get away from everything stressing you out, so let's hear what you have in mind to do just that?"

"Well..." Yuuki paused to consider the words, taking a sip of coffee to extend her moment of thought. "I want to go on a date with Jake... and Sherry. Together."

Motoko nodded for her to continue, well aware that Stella's interest had been keenly piqued by the explanation. The younger cyborg's previously relaxed, teasing air was replaced with razor sharp attentiveness.

"See, my problem is that if we made it obvious, then the damn cameras for the show would be all over us the whole damn time. Kinda ruins the mood when you know millions of people are judging." Yuuki smirked slightly as Stella's upper lip twitched into a knowing smile. "So I'm... trying to get all three of us from separate locations together, and if I'm spotted with them out in public by a local fan, then it'll blow up in my face."

"If I may be blunt..." Motoko lowered her cup to the coffee table. "I think this plan isn't going to work." She held up a hand as Yuuki opened her mouth to speak. "Let me explain why..." She was still completely calm, so Yuuki closed her mouth and let Motoko continue. "I can see where you're coming from with this, you love them both, it's fine to feel that way... but the problem is your plan is too ambitious. A threeway date, where ever you happen to go, wouldn't go very well for you as lovers, nor for the fans of the show either." Motoko slightly tiled her head towards Stella. "Why don't you show her what you found yesterday?"

Stella looked very unsure about the idea. "I don't think that's a good idea... It's... y'know..."

"I know that, Stella. That's why I want to show her." Motoko replied with a faintly stern tone.

Stella didn't argue, so she got up and went into the bedroom, leaving Yuuki to glance over at Motoko, worried by what they'd found about her.

"What is it?" She wasn't scared, but that hardly comforted her if Motoko wanted to show her with a serious air, rather than Stella as a devout fan of the show.

"A picture she came across last night." Motoko understood why Yuuki was worried. "It's not from a tabloid, if that's any comfort to you."

Yuuki seemed to understand. It was made by someone. "Fan art..."

"Indeed." Stella came back with a laptop in her hands, already pulling up the image. "Whoever did it has skills, but a twisted sense of humour."

Handing over the computer, Yuuki's eyes narrowed as she took in the sight of the clearly pornographic drawing of herself, Jake and Sherry.

It depicted herself standing naked with Sherry kneeling naked before her, her head between her legs with her tongue extending out towards her slit. Beside her, Jake was visible on his hands and knees, a metal collar around his neck, connected to a chain that she herself was holding tightly in her fist. Her other hand was gripping the shirt collar of a man, his neck bloodied by what was clearly her bite. Her mouth and chin were dripping with blood, including a few stray drops on the top of her tits and in her cleavage, but the oddly disturbing aspect of the whole piece was the background. It was as if they were in a spider's den... hers.

"There's more... isn't there?" Yukki asked aloud as she looked away sharply, knowing the answer already.

"Yes, there is." Motoko spoke quietly. "We spent quite a few hours looking through the results. Not all of them depict you in such a way, but there do seem to be rather strong feelings concerning your choice to be bisexually polyamorous."

Yuuki sighed, understanding what Motoko had been gently leading her to understand. "So, I think I know what you've been getting at."

Motoko nodded very slowly as Stella took the laptop off Yuuki's legs and brought it back to her own seat. "Your choices, they are yours to make, so I cannot interfere anymore than I just have."

"I get it, it's alright." Yuuki sipped more of her coffee before pursing her lips. "You're looking at the bigger picture, my threeway date's not a good idea... I need to choose one of them for this."

"No, that's not what she's saying." Stella sounded completely serious. "You go and have as many threeway dates with them as you want, the problem is that what you're using this plan for isn't the proper context for a date."

Yuuki was taken aback by Stella's serious side, which she rarely saw herself. "So you're saying...?"

"Bitch, you need to get laid." Stella started to laugh. "Lick a clit, suck a dick, doesn't matter. You're stressed, not that hard to understand. So, we can do it right here and just get it over with... Or you can get that intimacy they'd share with you and go home to your two lovers." Stella smiled again. "Either way, the results will be the same."

"Stella..." Motoko spoke in a warning tone, already sensing the desire that Stella was trying to hide from Yuuki with her brutally direct ultimatum.

Yuuki was silent, considering everything so far. Yes, she was stressed, and yes, she wanted to clear her head, but the methods were what was stopping her. As odd as it sounded, she wanted to be loyal to her lovers. They both loved and trusted her, knowing damn full well that she wasn't lying when she said she loved them both. Equally. In her eyes, being polyamorous wasn't cheating, so long as her partners respected her and didn't start anything with each other... Not that Sherry or Jake would dare to do that. They both knew her powers weren't just her Scale Mail and gills.

"If I said yes, then there'd be no hard feelings, no subtle jokes, nothing to ever give away that we'd fucked." Yuuki looked back up to stare at Stella in particular. "Just a quickie to calm down."

Stella knew better than to crack a joke right now, this was the pivotal moment, hanging by a thread. She simply shared a glance and a nod with Motoko, who pointedly took a sip of coffee before giving her own response.

"I wouldn't mind joining... But that's right, Yuuki. It's just to help you clear your head."

Yuuki got the answer she'd needed. it was strictly to clear her head, devoid of any intimacy, just a quick fix. She finally gave a nod, lowering her finished coffee cup. "Alright, I'll do it."

"I don't have to remind you that I have no genitals, Yuuki... I know you've seen the movie." Motoko lowered her own coffee as well. "That being said, there's something that we specifically requested not to be in the movie at all, either directly shown or in reference to."

Yuuki raised an eyebrow, unsure about what she meant. "Oh?"

"Motoko's got a spare prosthetic body with a dick." Stella spoke very bluntly, with a clear note of pride in her voice. "We figured you might want some cock in this agreement."

As she spoke, Yuuki felt a slight rise in her heartrate. The idea of a hermaphrodite Motoko wasn't something she'd directly fantasized about, but damn was the mental image arousing.

"You mind telling me the story behind it when we're done?" Yuuki's voice had just barely risen, denoting her excited mental imagery to the two cyborgs.

"Sure thing... When we're done, of course." Stella winked as they all stood up and she lead them into the bedroom. "Just gotta do one thing to my wife before we can even use it."

Yuuki had seen the scene were a cyberbrain was swapped into another body, so she knew that the quick procedure was what she was talking about.

"T-take your time." Yuuki replied as Motoko and Stella opened the large closet, revealing a duplicate Motoko residing in a secure set of restraints. Her gaze had gone downwards and she wasn't disappointed by what she saw. She was thankful that her eyes were a solid blue, otherwise they'd have been able to see that she wasn't able to take her eyes away from the futa cock.

[ _She looked, didn't she?_ ] Motoko asked over their private data channel as they got set with removing the spare body from the restraints.

[ _That little stutter says it all._ ] Stella replied, knowing that her choice in size and girth was perfect. [ _Hard for me to tell with those eyes of hers, but I doubt she can take her eyes off it right now._ ]


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: For those of you that have read my other story, Broken and Reborn, Stella... The chapters in this story are named on my end, and the last one was named 'Stress Relief' as a certain coincidental scene occurs in Broken and Reborn, Stella.**

* * *

"Well, you didn't exactly have any other options." Jake wasn't mad, in fact he was quite relieved. "They offered, and like you said, it was just a quickie. No reason to be ashamed of it, Yuuki."

Yuuki had spilled the beans on her - very amazing - quickie with the two cyborgs earlier that afternoon. She was certainly in a better head space after - like Stella had joked beforehand - having them fuck her brains out.

"So you're cool with that, it's no big deal that I had sex with Motoko and Stella?" Yuuki was still nervous. She didn't want it gnawing at her mind, so she told Sherry the second she'd arrived at home earlier. Of course, the blonde understood, but made it clear that she was just a little bit jealous about Yuuki getting Stella AND Motoko, simultaneously. The mental images were apparently unfair. She then went to visit Jake in his apartment to tell the same news.

"Look, I might not have earned the privilege of having sex with you yet, but that doesn't mean I don't understand what you did. Like I said, you didn't exactly have any other options." Jake leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees as he kept talking, well aware that he was calming her nerves. "You didn't cheat on me, and you said Sherry's fine with it too, so that's it. You don't need to stress yourself out again, especially concerning the way you chose to destress in the first place."

"Well..." Yuuki's cheeks went very pink suddenly as she turned her head away from Jake's face. "You kinda... have earned it, I just screwed you over by doing all that."

"I can wait, Yuuki." Jake let out a soft chuckle, smiling at her rather cute embarrassment. "Besides, it's your body. You decide when and if you want to have sex, regardless of who it's with."

Yuuki's eyebrows shot up as she turned back towards him, amazed by his very mature words. "Okay, hold on... You did just say what I thought you said, right?"

"Your body. Your rules." Jake smirked as he nodded. "I'm not stupid enough to even think about trying to force myself upon you."

"You're so lucky we're here at your place instead of at mine... My parents would love to hear you say that." Yuuki let out a sigh, shaking her head a bit.

"Respect is earned, not given." Jake replied sagely. "My dad didn't exactly get that particular memo, so I can understand why they would. Besides, I'm not suicidal. I've seen what those claws of yours can do. And they're the least of my worries, considering the lack of evidence concerning the power of your Hydrokinesis, so I have no idea what would be done to me if I did try in the first place."

"Well, yeah, you've got a point..." Yuuki clasped her hands together on her lap, pursing her lips as she paused. "And earning trust through actions stems from that respect, I know that one's another one of your little philosophies."

"That's right." Jake nodded, noticing that Yuuki seemed to have something she was leading the conversation towards. "If you don't trust me, that's fine, that means I haven't earned it..."

"I do trust you, Jake!" Yuuki cut him off. "It's just... I'm..." She stopped talking to find the right word for what she wanted to say. "I'm... conflicted." She clenched her hands together tightly before barreling forward with what she really wanted to say. "Okay, so, y'know, I've been calling myself a lesbian for ages, and obviously me and Sherry are a legitimate thing... But I love you too, and it's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact I've never had a boyfriend. It's..." She stopped suddenly, her lower lip shaking slightly.

Jake's first instinct was to get up and comfort her, but that part of his brain reserved for respect made him stop. This context, talking about trust, love and intimacy, would make it inappropriate to touch her right now. He stayed silent until Yuuki finally found the words she needed, speaking in a low, small voice filled with emotion.

" _I'm scared_."

Jake had his head low. At this moment, he knew. If he started down the path before him, it was a dangerous minefield. One slip, and it was over. But, he also knew that he had to quell her fears, so he boldly took that fateful first step.

"That's a perfectly natural feeling, Yuuki." Jake's voice wasn't cocky, sarcastic or teasing. It was calm, careful and low. "You have every right to be scared."

"But I love you, Jake!" Yuuki was on the verge of tears, she could feel them stinging in her eyes. "I want to be intimate with you, but I've been batting for the other team my whole life!"

"Yuuki..." Jake stared her right in the face as he looked up. "I can't say anything to remove that sense of fear from you. This isn't something we can just gloss over or ignore. You feel this fear because it's so new and confusing to you. I respect you too much to try anything, and I most certainly refuse to force myself onto you. That being said, I would like to know exactly what's scaring you, on the off chance I _can_ help you."

Yuuki's throat felt tight, he was right, it was a new and confusing experience. In fact, when she'd had the quickie with the Kusanagi's, Motoko seemed to sense her anxiety concerning the cock between her legs, so she diverted their course of action into having Stella ride her cock while Motoko orally pleasured Yuuki from below and Stella had a field day on her tits. Killing two birds with one stone, as the saying goes.

"I..." Yuuki tried to enunciate her chaotic thoughts, but her tightened throat and anxiety refused to let her. She was getting frustrated, her own feelings were preventing her from addressing those exact feelings! "It's just..." She tried again, coming up blank. "I..." She was getting impatient with herself, working herself up just to voice her thoughts. "Fucking hell..." She growled in frustration, giving up on trying to tell Jake how she felt.

Instead, the next thing they both knew, she had him laying flat on his back on his bed, straddling him with her hands holding him down by the shoulders.

Jake was about to try and defuse the very dangerous situation, but Yuuki spoke first, clearly frustrated by the dead end attempts at voicing her fears.

"Actions speak louder than words." Yuuki's teeth - her fangs were clearly visible to Jake, denoting his sense of danger - were clenched as she said the quote, but went on after taking a steadying breath and unclenching her jaw. "I want... to have sex with you, Jake. I'm sick of trying to fight with myself about it. Now, you said it yourself. You won't force yourself onto me, it's my body and my decision to make..." Her lips tugged into a predatory smile. "But that doesn't mean I can't do it my damn self, does it?"

"To be fair, you could've been a bit more gentle." Jake felt the dangers of the minefield pass, he was on a new - much more dangerous - path now, one that was blocked by a feral beast that needed to be tamed.

"Shut up, you should've at least given me credit for how long it took until I snapped." Yuuki was slowly reaching around to her lower back to remove her knife sheath and her CCG calling cards. "I've got my demons to fight. I'm just changing my tactics and grabbing them by the horns."

"I think the hips would be more appropriate, given the context." Jake smirked as he put both of his hands on her hips, taking no further action by choice.

"I could grab by the balls, y'know..." Yuuki tossed the small card carrier and her knife onto the floor. "You aren't exactly very dominant in our relationship either."

"I'm well aware of that." Jake replied as Yuuki grabbed a fistful of his shirt, pausing as she realized that he might actually want it to survive to see morning.

"I'm too impatient to get off you, can I..." Yuuki didn't even get the question out when Jake nodded for her to go ahead and rip his simple blue t-shirt off.

"Lazy clothes, go nuts."

With that, her claws, and a loud tearing sound, it was done. Yuuki tossed his remains of the shirt aside, planning to respect his rather nice jeans, only to realize that there was something on Jake's chest, something very dear to her.

"You little shit." Yuuki stared at the spider tattoo, off-centered in placement, on his chest, a simplified, but very accurate replica of her own tribal spider that dominated her back. "When?" She demanded, continuing to do most of the work since she was on top of him. She was reaching around her back to start with the dozen hook & eye clasps that were tightly connected to keep her corset tight. Beneath was the zipper that kept it closed.

"Since before the gunfight." Jake replied, admittedly watching her a bit more than he was listening. "I chose the chest placement specifically to hide it, even if I was wearing a shirt with an open collar."

"You do realize what this means, don't you?" Yuuki finished with the hooks and was beginning to reach for the top of the zipper.

"I knew going in." Jake admitted honestly. In getting her iconic spider tattoo, he had marked himself as hers. "I'm not stupid, it's iconic. It's your symbol, marking me as yours, and yours alone."

"That's right, you're all mine now." Yuuki dragged the zipper down her back, feeling the formerly tight garment loosening the whole way. "You have my mark, but I've yet to truly claim you for myself."

With those words, the corset was open, but a single button was what held it in place. With little more than a flick of her thumb, it was opened and she bared herself, an action normally reserved for Sherry, to Jake, who drank in the sight of her gorgeous bust. She wasn't wearing her usual two necklaces, they'd been removed earlier that day with the Kusanagi quickie, currently residing in her abandoned jacket's inner pocket alongside her USP.45 and it's ammo.

"Alright, game time." Yuuki grabbed Jake's stationary wrists and willingly brought his callused hands to the soft, warm skin of her boobs. "Hang on tight, this part's a bit... complex."

Jake had no idea what she meant, but he didn't defy her order to hang on.

Yuuki used her now free hands to remove her studded leather belt, tossing it behind her as she practically flattened her bust and his hands onto Jake's chest, their faces little more than an inch apart as she slightly lifted her ass up while sliding her - sometimes annoyingly - tight leather pants down her backside, exposing as much of her still panty clad ass as she could before speaking again, mostly to herself, but Jake knew it was for him as well.

"Now for the hard part..."

With obviously practiced movements and an serious display of flexibility, Yuuki carefully brought her ass back down while simultaneously moving her legs up and around until both of her bare feet - she'd kicked her boots off long before, while first revealing to Jake what she'd done with the Kusanagi's - were above hers and Jake's heads, the new position allowing her to drag her pants even further down her legs, until she stopped and spoke to Jake.

"Hands off, I need them over the top of my legs from the outside."

He complied, still amazed - and by no means not aroused - by the display of intense flexibility she possessed. If her ass wasn't resting above his belt line right now, she'd be able to feel his erection through his jeans.

Now free to finish, Yuuki triumphantly pulled them off completely and threw them over her shoulder. She was still in the acrobatic position, so Jake returned his hands to her chest to allow her to reverse the movements back to how she'd been straddling him earlier.

With a very pleased expression, Yuuki sighed with relief as she felt her strained hips and tensed abs relaxing back to normal. She shifted back slightly, planning to just unzip Jake's jeans and pull his dick out, only to realize that she was able to feel it through the layers of fabric.

"Did I really get you hard from that?" Yuuki was shocked, for sure, but at the same time she felt very flattered by his biological honesty.

"Oh yeah." Jake didn't even deny it. "That was absolutely sexy, and very impressive to witness."

Yuuki blushed, but didn't linger on it for long as she resumed her initial plan and reached through the opened zipper and extracted his shaft.

Now she was hesitating for a completely different reason. This was it, the whole reason she'd been doing this. She just needed a moment, her hands still clad in her usual black lacy half-finger gloves as she stared at the piece of flesh gripped in her hands.

It was rigid, obviously, the shape of the head was rounded and smooth, like some of the waterlife and even certain plants she'd seen at the bottom of the ocean. She knew, biologically, it was designed for what they were about to do, so she gave it a final, hard stare before taking her other hand and pulling the last psychological barrier between them away, her panties.

Jake had been watching the look of awe pass over her face. He wasn't packing a monster between his legs, but he wasn't small either. She seemed to be steeling herself for the task in silence, her grip on his shaft only briefly tightened when she took her other hand and slid the front of her panties - a black lacy pair that seemed to match the gloves she always wore - out of the way, baring her entrance to him.

As expected of her, she took care of herself. Although, he did idly muse that he would've enjoyed even just a tiny bit of sparkling silvery pubic hair, but he held his tongue on the subject. Not appropriate to be saying that to her right now.

"I know what you're thinking, smartass." Yuuki could see the thought in his head right in his expression. "Yes, the carpet matches the drapes."

"Just checking." Jake winked cheekily, but his smartass moment was cut short as Yuuki shoved his length inside of herself to punish his little mistake.

She'd been expecting it, but regardless, the sudden sensation of the penetration was new to her, causing her to bite down on her lip, her hands frozen in place as her lower body adjusted to the first time intrusion.

Jake, of course, had no warning, so his words had been cut short as his length was clamped down on by her inner muscles, all attempting to force him back out without success.

Yuuki's breathing had only briefly paused, but came back to her senses and full control of her body with a sharp, hissing inhale through her teeth.

"Should've thought this one through just a little bit more." Yuuki commented to herself in Japanese, berating her own methods and lack of forethought on the matter, but she went back to English as she said. "It's... uncomfortable, yes, but that part's... my own fault." Yuuki was still adjusting, but the discomfort was fading fast. "I'm... gonna take it slow now." She sounded like it was personal encouragement, announcing her intentions aloud just to hear them vocalized.

And so she did, slowly lifting her hips as she placed one hand near Jake's shoulder on the bed, the other taking his wrist and guiding it to her hip. His other hand did the same, their gazes locked the whole time, reassuring her in her movements.

With a nervous gulp, Yuuki prepared herself for the discomfort as she forcibly brought her generously shaped backside straight down the length of Jake's shaft, dragging out a gasp from her lips as her inner walls quickly protested to even further intrusion.

Instead of waiting like a sensible person would, she just kept going. Lifting herself carefully, then slamming her ass down recklessly. It hurt, yeah, but not nearly as much as that initial thrust inside had. The pain was fading fast as she pressed her forehead against Jake's, staring deeply into his eyes.

"Go ahead, feel around. This isn't exactly easy on me."

Jake nodded, letting his hands do their assigned task on their own. His mind was too busy keeping himself from disappointing Yuuki by busting his balls inside of her so quickly. She needed his help to make it a pleasant experience for her, so he did the first thing he could think of... He kissed her.

Not just a quick peck either, it was deep, intimate yet gentle and loving. It was her first time with the opposite gender, so he wanted to make sure it wasn't a bad experience for her.

Yuuki knew Jake was going to do it, so she accepted him into her mouth almost immediately. The sudden display of intimacy, normally not seen from Jake in such intensity, was definitely making the act easier on herself. It was taking her mind off the weakening pinches of discomfort with each downward motion, leaving her free to start enjoying the pleasure she was getting, enjoying the sensation of being filled with each time she forced his cock deeper inside of herself. The other part of that, when she felt that needy emptiness inside as she lifted her hips, left her wanting more, that of course repeating the cycle when she brought her ass back down again.

Yuuki was also acutely aware of Jake's roaming hands. They didn't have much access to her tits in her current position with her mouth dueling with Jake's, but they were certainly pleasing sensations as he touched, squeezed and caressed her shoulders, hips, spine, thighs and ass cheeks. She especially liked how his fingers traced along her spine while his other hand gave her ass a hefty squeeze.

After coming up for air - a rather ironic choice of words for her - Yuuki realized she no longer felt any discomfort with his thrusts. It finally felt good, and she didn't dare stop. She took in his whole length with ease, several low moans rumbling in her throat.

"You can tear apart my jeans, if they're in your way." Jake spoke up, his eyes following a single bead of sweat as it took the long, sensual journey from her neck, between her cleavage, down the central line of her toned abs, then disappeared into the lace of her panties.

Yuuki wasn't listening, she was on the edge of a haze of pleasure, riding him hard. She'd finally done what she wanted to do. Now... She was lost in the throes of passion, realizing it too late as she found the room spinning for a moment before landing on her back as Jake flipped her onto her back, her legs still spread to maintain their intimate connection.

"Now that I have your attention..." Jake smirked as he repeated his initial comment. "If my jeans are bothering you or getting in the way, you can tear them apart if you want to."

Yuuki bared her teeth, the haze was gone now, so she had to do the whole thing over again. In seconds, Jake's jeans and his boxers were on the floor, little more than ribbons. Just as quickly, she latched her hand around the back of his neck, bringing him into another passionate, loving kiss.

Now that she was on the bottom, Jake was the one tasked with thrusting inside of her, which he did with the best of his ability, once again leaving his hands to explore and pleasure her hot flushed skin as her own arms wrapped lovingly around his upper back, one hand grasping the back of his head needily.

Yuuki was thankful that Jake was making out with her right now. If he wasn't, she'd have totally had a dopey sex face with her tongue hanging out of her mouth, drooling profusely. She was in ecstasy, instinctively hooking her ankles together around Jake's lower back to deepen the thrusts of his dick.

Her throaty moans were constant, the rising and falling tones of them sounded oddly musical to Jake's ears. It seemed to him that she was enjoying her first time, so he kept it up until she suddenly tightened her various holds on him and her musical moans turned into a screaming groan as she came, ridiculously hard.

Her hands pulled him into her breasts and mouth, respectively, while her legs and inner thighs forced his dick inside of her to the very limit. Likewise, her walls clamped down around his entire length, squeezing and tensing around him in a way that felt so good for both of them. It was that specific sensation that caused him to finally cum.

Yuuki's scream cut short as she threw her head back, still tightly holding Jake as close to her as she possibly could as her whole body started shaking and twitching as his release shot inside of her at the absolute best moment possible. The sensation was utter bliss, robbing her of her voice completely, leaving her with that dopey, drooling sex face with her tongue hanging out uselessly and her eyes were fluttering closed, depsite her better efforts.

She did it, she finally got what she really wanted all this time. She didn't just need to get laid. She wanted... _No_! She _needed_ Jake, and she got him exactly the way she wanted, and then some. He was hers, and hers alone now...

Marked and claimed.

* * *

 **A/N: Now... Yuuki isn't the lesbian we've all come to expect she is, nor is she bisexual like she'd thought herself. She's Demisexual. That means she needs to have an emotional connection to someone before she forms a romantic one with them, regardless of gender.**


	24. Chapter 24

For once, the whispering and the averted glances in the halls and classrooms didn't bother Yuuki as she walked into the school the next day. She was in a glorious mood, not even Wesker and his Neo-Umbrella buffoons could change her mood today.

The obvious spring in her step suddenly became an excited bounce the moment she caught sight of Jake talking to some of his male friends. She made a beeline for him without even realizing it.

He heard her heeled footsteps fast coming, and turned a bit too late as she pulled him into her arms and kissed him happily, humming in a very pleased tone.

"Morning." She purred happily as they separated, already noticing the 'not worth it anymore' expression on the principal's face as he stopped mid-stride several meters away.

"You're here early." Jake smiled, knowing that Yuuki usually didn't arrive for another fifteen minutes.

"Traffic was nice to me for once." Yuuki replied, still holding him close to her tightly leather clad body. As much as she didn't want to, she knew they had to separate for their first class, reuniting for Science and lunch, then spend third period separate, which was Gym for her and Sherry, and Math for him. Fourth was also when they reunited with Sherry again, in English. "I'll see you in class, _moya lyubov'_." She purred as she finally released him and walked away, the happiest she'd ever been seen in a long, long time. **(Moya lyubov' = My love)**

"Okay, what the fuck was that? I thought you two were just friends, Muller!" Several of the guys gave sounds of agreement until Jake turned around with a very smug smirk on his face.

"Not anymore." He replied, proud of his success of getting together with one of, if not the hottest girls in the school, maybe even all of LA.

Of course, they didn't need details, so he left them gawking without a word, likewise in a good mood, just like his girlfriend.

* * *

News spread fast. Sherry already knew they had a separate relationship from her, so she only asked for Yuuki to confirm what was true among the different versions circulating the school.

"Pfft, none of them are." Yuuki snorted, oddly arrogant. "Nobody's even gotten close to the truth, so I'll just tell you directly." She smirked as she started speaking in Russian. "I finally had sex with him, last night, over at his place, and it was absolutely fucking fabulous."

"No wonder you're glowing, you got laid!" Sherry likewise replied in Russian, leaning back as she started laughing. "I should've realized it sooner!"

"Twice, remember?" Yuuki smirked, raising an eyebrow suggestively. "If we act fast, I can get the package deal, all within 24 hours..."

"Oh no, nice try there, you little fiend." Sherry countered, none too tempted by the suggested exhibitionism of them sneaking out of class to have sex somewhere in the school." "I am not going to be another notch in your belt!"

"New belt, can't say that anymore." Yuuki replied, brandishing her new accessory. Instead of the studded leather belts she usually preferred to wear, this one was drastically different. It was a belt of bullets, all live ammunition. To be precise, they were EAPI Q-Bullets, or Explosive Armour Piercing Incendiary. 7.62x51mm NATO rounds to be precise, otherwise known as .308's. The buckle was the only part that wasn't bullets, which was a gift from Auntie Sere, a shiny, normal steel version of her spider tattoo connected the black metal of the bullets together and added a focal point and a personal touch to it as well.

* * *

By the end of the day, even more rumors and different versions of other ones were being spread about Jake and Yuuki. Neither gave a damn anyway, so who cares if the rumors were false? Nobody but them and Sherry needed to know details, let alone the whole truth.

Any idiot with half a brain could tell their relationship - at one point, strictly enforced as 'just friends' - had escalated. Details were intentionally scarce, so theories ran amok and misheard rumours spread like wildfire whenever they were spotted together, speaking in Russian whenever they weren't making out. The normally rare students that took the Russian language class were suddenly being hounded by drama seeking masses of girls and an unsurprising number of guys. Of course, Sherry had spoken up in class before hand to force them to stay out of it, or she'd tell Yuuki and let HER deal with their mistake.

Suddenly none of them spoke the language anymore, avoiding the near-feral groups demanding for immediate translations.

* * *

"Alright, spit it out. What's going on between you and Jake?" Rize had pulled Yuuki aside before she could get a chance at escaping the house. She was intentionally waiting until today, the only day of the week when the Darkwood camera's weren't permitted to record because the new episode would be airing that evening, to speak to Yuuki about her change in attitude concerning the redhead.

"Took those fuckers long enough." Yuuki growled, referring to the camera crews. "Anyway, so yeah... me and Jake... we're a thing now. Happy?" Yuuki skipped the bullshit and told the truth. "Turns out I'm not just a lesbian. Bisexual, just like you."

"I see." Rize crossed her arms, all to aware of her choice of wording giving away their secret. "I demand condoms, or I'm going to bite his balls off and force-feed them to him."

"Way ahead of you." Yuuki held up both hands, already taking care of the subject. "We're being careful, you can relax."

"Good, now, have you told your father?" Rize knew that Tobias would seek out Jake immediately afterwards and scare the poor boy into submission.

"I told him first." Yuuki nodded. "Jake couldn't get it up for two days after their conversation."

"Very well. Now, keep the noise down if you two do decide to have sex here. Your father's the only one that should be able to hear you, at your loudest. Do you understand, young lady?" Rize knew her daughter better than almost everyone. If she was like herself, then she was VERY vocal during sex, with both genders. The memories of getting caught with Tobias on multiple occasions for that exact reason came to her mind as her daughter's cheeks went red, denoting that it was very true indeed.

"No promises." Yuuki neither agreed nor disagreed with the condition. She quickly spun on her heel, leaving the house and riding her bike down the street while her mother sighed and shook her head at the evasive response.

* * *

"So, she took it well, I take it?" Jake was leaning on the wall of the alley they were in, keeping an eye on the only way in while Yuuki feasted on her second kill of the week. It was a drunk guy she'd almost effortlessly enticed into following her down the alley with flashes of her cleavage, snapping his neck with her bare hands before saying the usual Japanese blessing of " _Itadakimasu!_ " before tearing her teeth into his flesh while Jake stood guard.

Yuuki gave an 'Mmm-Hmm' sound of agreement, her mouth still full of the man's bicep tissue on her hands and knees, tearing chunks straight off the bone with feral growls and grunts.

"Somehow I expected her to have some sort of problem with it... Guess I was wrong." Jake shrugged, not the least bit bothered by Yuuki's hunting habits anymore. He'd seen her killing techniques, and her ravenous hunger. The kills were quick and precise, but her eating was wild, messy and oddly intriguing to watch. She seemed to know the best body part to eat directly before she'd even said the food blessing. Since this guy had plenty of booze in him, his stomach and liver were out of the question for her to consume. So, she was eating his upper arm almost straight to the bone.

"Mmm-Hmm." Yuuki gave the same agreement sound, denoting that she felt the same about telling her mother about their relationship.

The conversation died down until Yuuki's meal lost it's substance, leaving a ravaged forearm still attached to a cleanly exposed humerus, still in the shoulder socket. She pulled her calling card out of her belt and tucked it into the hand, then closed the fingers around it while they were still relaxed, devoid of rigor mortis. That would develop by the time the LA CCG and LAPD arrived to examine the body.

"Why not leave the card on the ground?" Jake had seem her do similar methods of planting the cards, poking out of chest pockets, in their hands, even being bitten down on, pinched between their lips.

"Needs to bear obvious signs of being planted, and it has to be noticeable at a glance. Those are the rules we were given when using them." Yuuki explained as she cleaned her hands and face with a cloth she'd prepared beforehand. Once she was done, she quickly reapplied her usual glossy black lipstick and they mounted her bike, she was finally fed for the next two or three days, so they had no further purpose to be in the area.

The body was discovered within a few hours, and just like she'd said, her calling card was almost immediately spotted by the first officer to arrive on scene. The CCG arrived shortly afterwards to dispose of the remains, taking down notes of Yuuki's usual hunting schedule as the body was taken away.


	25. Chapter 25

Yuuki wasn't exactly the academic type, but at the same time, she wasn't a slacker either. She studied, she passed her assignments and had her favourite courses, but exams... Fuck that.

So, with a nice book in her hands, she had her raised knee gently rocking her chair back and forth while she read, a hot coffee just inches away. Across from her, Sherry was the quintessential nerd with notes and textbooks spread around her as she studied. Hard.

"Your nose is bleeding, might want to fix that." Yuuki spoke up suddenly, still reading.

Sherry looked up suddenly, a hand almost instinctively travelling to her upper lip to confirm it, but in doing so she realized Jake was approaching them from behind Yuuki's back, of course, his nose was bleeding. Yuuki could smell it before she could, it seems.

"Gravity's an even bigger asshole than my dad." Jake reported as he pulled a tissue - he normally carried one or two - from his pocket and held it to his nose. "Fell on my way out of class."

"Dumbass, gravity hates everyone, not just you." Yuuki shook her head, smirking. "Now the ocean, she's a lovely sort... 'till you fuck with her. Then she'll end you and everything you love."

"Even you?" Jake asked as he sat down with them in the last chair at the library table. "From what I can tell, you're immune to drowning."

"And the pressure too." Yuuki nodded. It was true, she wasn't able to drown, underwater predators like sharks didn't attack her, and she could walk on the bottom without feeling the crushing effects of the water around her. She was literally immune to the oceans. "Once you get to know them, sharks are just big puppies without fur. They don't attack me either."

"You didn't answer my question. Can the ocean end you like you claim?" Jake smirked at how Yuuki was lazily rocking herself forwards and backwards with her knee on the edge of the table. Though not intended, from his angle, it was an oddly provocative sight.

"I'm her coastal representative, why would I piss off my boss?" Yuuki leaned her head over as she answered the question. "Besides, no matter what she'd throw at me, I wouldn't be able to die from it." She turned a page before returning her head to the prior position it was in. "Immunities come at a cost, you know."

"Oh yeah, I think we both know that one." Jake glanced at Sherry, who nodded in agreement. A dry Yuuki was a dead Yuuki. And she wouldn't just lay there and take it either. She'd be swearing and fighting it until she was sizzling on the pavement.

* * *

By the end of the week, exams had begun. Their first was as brutal as they'd expected, taking place on Friday, then their second would resume on Monday, then third and fourth would likewise follow on the next respective days. Thursday would be a day off school entirely, then Friday - an official PA day - would be the day that their marks were mailed home, and the following Monday was the first day of the second semester.

Right now it was the evening of the first Friday. Yuuki, after a bit of hunting, was laying on her back, staring up at her ceiling while Sherry and Jake, both of whom had accompanied her earlier, were likewise drained from the day's events.

"I'm so damn tired, I doubt I could get enough energy to make either of you horny right now... Fuckin' hell..." Yuuki was the first to open her mouth, her voice matching her words.

"I doubt I could even get it up in the first place." Jake shook his head with a slight smirk.

Sherry was actually nodding off while they were talking, so she suddenly bolted awake with a small squeak of surprise, realizing what they'd been saying didn't really involve her. She just sat there, willing herself to just pass out.

"Stupid exams." Yuuki frowned, still not moving. "Makes it worse that the cameras are still here for another two hours, so even if we did manage to get going, they'd catch everything. I'm not too keen on that, for obvious reasons."

"Says the one that wanted to drag me into a janitor's closet to get herself a 'package deal'..." Sherry snapped back to reality suddenly, staring at Yuuki teasingly.

"I'm going to choose to ignore that last comment..." Tobias suddenly opened the bedroom door, startling them. "Anyway, once the cameras are gone, there's something we need to discuss with you three."

Yuuki could sense it wasn't related to their conversation, so she gave a thumbs up as her father left, closing the door behind himself as he went. Jake and Sherry glanced at her, worried.

"Alice is back from Europe." Yuuki explained simply, sensing her grandmother downstairs. "So it's about your dad, Jake."

"Lovely." Jake shook his head with a sarcastic smirk.

* * *

When the camera crews finally did leave for the night, all three of them came downstairs to find Leon, Ada and Alice waiting for them with all of Yuuki's family in the living room.

"So, straight to the point: We spoke with FN's upper management, Wesker made a secret deal with them strictly for weapons. Nothing fancy. Contract's been terminated, by our doing." Leon explained. "While we were over there, we got a few of their representatives that conducted the actual meetings with the company under surveillance."

"Cheers to Uncle Sam." Tobias held up his coffee with a smirk. "Now, Alice, what did you find out from Sir Spencer?"

"Old guy's still kicking, hasn't heard from Wesker by any means." Alice reported. "Not even a subtle message or riddle. Spencer's clean, and for good reason. He's getting too old to be dealing with Wesker."

"I figured as much." Tabitha sighed. "So, Yuuki, what about that submarine you've been keeping an eye on? Anything new to report?"

"Last check was yesterday. It's still maintaining it's submerged patrol pattern, surfaces once a week out in international waters for the crew to get fresh air and receive supplies from an unmarked helicopter." Yuuki explained, her hands on her hips.

"And I've gotten nothing from him either. He hasn't called for a while now." Jake chimed in. "So, where does that leave us?"

"As of yet, we've cut off his weapons supply, but not ammunition. He's probably got a stockpile. But that's not our current concern." Tobias exhaled deeply. "What we need to do now is get him to call Jake, attack Yuuki, or make some sort of move."

"Who knows how long that might take?" Yuuki frowned, but Jake's phone rang, and everyone stared at him as he checked the caller.

"It's him." Jake immediately answered it. "What do you want, old man?"

"I was going to ask how your exams went, but by the sound of your voice, not so good." Wesker sighed loudly. "Regardless, I've neglected to send you your payment for the task I've given you. Do you want it in cash, or deposited into your bank account?"

"You're probably going to try and screw me over with counterfeit cash, and I doubt it would be any different the other way either." Jake scowled.

"You're my son. I have no intentions of 'screwing you over' by any means." Wesker replied. "How about I send it in cash right now? Have Mr. Darkwood check it over, if you so wish. He has connections."

"You don't have an address to send it to, I made sure of that." Jake frowned, glancing at Tobias - likely the only one who could hear Wesker - who nodded in understanding.

"I can send it to Mr. Darkwood directly, if he so wishes." Wesker replied. "Otherwise, I can have it delivered by one of my associates to a location of your choosing, to be picked up at your leisure."

"Send it to Tobias. I'll let him know." Jake received a nod from Tobias at the silent request.

"Very well, it shall arrive within the hour." Wesker replied. "I do hope you trust me, Jacob."

Jake hung up and shoved his phone into his pocket, turning to Tobias with a sigh. "He originally wanted me to befriend Yuuki to spy on you guys... I refused, but he still wants to pay me the amount he offered at the time."

"You've made the right choice, Jake." Serenity stood up and held out her hands, noticing that he was shaking. "Don't worry, we'll make sure you're safe. I promise."

Jake didn't resist as Serenity gave him a hug. After a few moments, they separated, and Jake took a steadying breath. "Thanks... that really helps."

"Your dad thinks like a cold hearted businessman. Emotion means nothing to him." Tobias stood up and approached Jake. "But you... You've proven to me that you've got what it takes to be part of our family. In my eyes... you're a Darkwood, not a Wesker."

"You serious?" Jake was shocked, but Tobias didn't back down. He meant it, and Jake slowly realized that fact, his face breaking into a relieved smile. "So... I'm family to you guys?"

"Damn right." Tobias held out his hand, and Jake took it firmly. "If you ever need my help, or help from anyone in this room, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you... Tobias." Jake was shaking, but Tobias smiled at him.

"Call me Toby. You've earned it."


	26. Chapter 26

True to his word, the money he'd promised to deliver arrived within an hour, delivered by one of the known Neo-Umbrella men they knew about. It was in a manilla envelope, and Tobias took it from the man without a word... or killing him.

Tobias made quick work of the envelope, checking it for additional objects or tampering. He found nothing, so after encasing himself in a dome of ice, he opened it and took every single bill out, one at a time. Nothing. No traps, not wires, nothing. Just the envelope, cash - a total of one thousand dollars, in twenties - and a rubber band to hold it all together.

Tobias had one last thing to check, so he removed the dome and returned inside, speaking to Tabitha for a moment as she took the wad of cash and thumbed through it before nodding in approval.

"Jake, it's clean. Looks like you were lucky." Tobias held up the money and gently tossed it to him. "Mishka says they're all real too."

"Thanks for the help, Toby... Mishka." Jake caught the cash and weighed it experimentally for a moment before tucking it into his pocket. "I should probably head back home now, exams are still going."

"Alright, drive safe. You're welcome here any time." Rize shook his hand with a smile. "I'm proud of you, Jake."

* * *

"Sir, package delivered. No issues."

"Thank you, that will be all for tonight." Wesker hung up the phone and sighed. He hadn't trapped or bugged the cash, nor was any of it fake either. It was legitimate money, one thousand dollars, and that was it. He had no intentions of harming Jake.

* * *

"Is it a god damn rule for teachers to be such stubborn mudak's or do they just hate students on a personal level?" Yuuki snarled as they left their final exam at the midpoint of the following week. **(Mudak = Asshole)**

"I think it's a rule, honestly." Jake sighed. "Mind you, my reputation pales in comparison to yours, so it might be the latter... to a degree."

"I'd slap you, but I might break your jaw." Yuuki narrowed her eyes in annoyance at his comment.

"I'll survive, that's what matters." Jake gave her a kiss on her cheek, a teasing glint in his eyes that denoted a subtle challenge.

"Fuckin' masochist." Yuuki commented in Japanese to herself as Sherry giggled at his words.

"You almost sound like you want her to slap you." Sherry pointed out, to which Jake gave a cheeky wink.

"Maybe I do, I won't say otherwise."

"Great, now my boyfriend's a masochist. Kinky prick." Yuuki continued to talk to herself in Japanese as they filed down the corridors with the rest of the students. All of their books had been returned, their lockers - by their own choice, not an order from the school - cleaned in preparation for the next semester's beginning on Monday. "At least I'm the sadistic one..."

"Hey, Mermaid, back to the States for a minute." Sherry elbowed Yuuki's ribs to get her attention. "What classes are you taking next semester?"

"Math, Vocal Music, Visual Arts and Cooking..." Yuuki listed her next roster of courses off with her fingers, then paused. "That's just for the credit category, honestly. I'm a Ghoul, I can't eat fuck all that they'd force us to make, so I'll just feed it to you two... Good or bad."

"Can't argue with free food." Jake laughed. "Besides, it's not that you can't eat it, you're just making more for us."

"Smartass." Yuuki sighed in annoyance. She knew going in that it would raise more than just a few eyebrows, but she needed the credit, fuck off.

* * *

Their extended break from school was spent peacefully, nothing really happened, even for Darkwood's episode. Yuuki only made one brief appearance, and the fans of the show could tell she was still mentally recovering from her exams, so there was a decent amount of sympathy aimed towards her. Oddly enough, the episode was centered more on Serenity than usual, she had some new art exhibition thing that Yuuki didn't really care much for. Recycled and salvaged materials turned into sculptures or something like that was what she'd gathered while she made herself a coffee before returning to her room.

But, when school resumed on Monday, she was almost lethally sharp that morning. Not on edge, per se, but not in the mood for bullshit of any kind. She went through it before, a new semester meant new morons trying to get under her skin... or die hard Darkwood fans. Neither were tolerated for long.

Wearing a new pair of high heeled boots - black leather with short spikes all over the back of the heel and top of the toes, with skull shaped buckles on her ankle and upper calf - and her bullet belt with her usual leather ensemble, Yuuki pulled her bike to a halt beside Jake's Jeep in the parking lot and took a moment to prepare herself for the morons.

Once she was prepared, she strode inside the school with her usual long strides.

* * *

Math went surprisingly well. A majority of the class already knew her by reputation, and the rest had been in her classes last semester.

So, when she walked into Vocal Music - she could sing, but kept it a _huge_ secret, not even Sherry and Jake knew her true skill beyond a simple 'I can sing' - she paused, realizing that there were half a dozen girls that just _oozed_ a 'new kid' vibe, on so many levels. The rest of the class were unfamiliar to her, since she was technically in new territory.

A dozen eyes turned towards her the instant she'd stopped, and they all shared glances before one of them spoke up.

"The BDSM class is down the hall."

"Too tame for my liking. I transfered out." Yuuki quipped right back, already feeling the dislike coming from the girl that had spoken. "Not that it's any of your concern, cyka."

"Soo-kuh?" The girls laughed. "What's that, your boyfriend's name?"

"No, it's a foreign language, you just have to figure out which one and translate what I said, mudak." Yuuki stepped forward, but the door opened behind her and the teacher cleared her throat.

"I happen to know those words, young lady. Be thankful I'm the only one that understands them." She warned, then took charge of the class, pointedly keeping Yuuki separated from the new girls.

After the introductions - nobody knew her, thank god - the teacher posed a question from the front of the class that got everyone's attention in an instant.

"Who here... can sing?"

About two thirds of the class nodded or raised their hand, including Yuuki and the bitch that hated her. The rest looked nervous or didn't move.

"Alright, who here is formally taught?" She asked, scanning the hands that remained up - Yuuki lowered hers at that one - with a keen gaze. "And who is self taught?"

Yuuki raised her hand this time. Although her father was musically talented, he hadn't truly taught her. She did it all herself, from when she was about six years old.

"Alright, and novices?" The teacher had a sudden stern glare, but everyone shook their heads. "Well, that makes my job quite a bit easier. So, who here would be willing to put on a bit of a recital?"

Everyone, including Yuuki blinked or stared in confusion. Just... sing, right now?

"Do you need an incentive?" The teacher wasn't pleased, but Yuuki's hand reacted before her brain realized it. "Miss Darkwood, is it? Very well, what is your style of singing?"

"She does screamo, can't you tell?" The girl - her name was Holly - from earlier piped up, but Yuuki scowled before saying the first song she knew how to sing.

"Daia No Hana. It's not screamo, it's rock."

With no other options, she pulled her phone out of her jacket's inner pocket and prepared the song as she took to the front of the class, facing her fate as the teacher plugged it into the speakers.

As the song began, Yuuki only had a brief moment to breathe before she started singing the song she was so familiar with, and by no means unskilled at singing it either.

Not even thirty seconds into the song, she had people's jaws dropping. She didn't care, partly because it was a Japanese song, but also because Holly was scowling at her angrily, clearly not expecting the display of coolly confident skill.

Yuuki knew the song was intense, and she wanted the bar set high, so she put everything she had into singing. When she finished - the whole song, uninterrupted - she had practically stupified her classmates, but the teacher started to clap, very impressed.

"Self taught... and I take it you know the language too?" She asked as she stopped clapping, returning Yuuki's phone with a smile.

"I speak three languages, and I can sing in all of them." Yuuki glanced at Holly at that comment, noticing that she had her phone out, tapping at the screen.

"I expect to hear them all, Miss Darkwood." The teacher gave a nod for her to return to her seat. "Now then, anyone else care to follow up with Miss Darkwood's excellent display?"

Nobody moved, save for Holly giving a derisive scoffing snort, which earned the attention of the teacher.

"Something to say, Miss Maillet?"

Holly went red, but quickly recovered by saying. "Does anyone even know what she was saying? For all we know, she could've been swearing or making derogatory statements..."

"I don't need to. If I want to insult you, fatass, I'll say it in English, straight to your face." Yuuki had her legs crossed sassily, earning a few respectful gazes as Holly went brick red from embarrassment _and_ anger.

"Ladies, enough. Languages don't matter if the one hearing it cannot understand the words compared to the emotion being put into the song itself. I trust Miss Darkwood's choice of song, that is the end of it. Now, since you seem to have so much to say on the matter, how about you dazzle us with _your_ vocal capabilities, hm?"

Holly seemed to deflate at that challenge, so she shook her head in defeat. "No..."

"I thought so." The teacher spoke with a note of finality as she turned her attention back to the class. "Now, because of this, I expect you all, regardless of current skill level, to put forth dedicated effort to match or possibly even surpass Miss Darkwood's capabilities. That is non-negotiable."

Nobody had confident expressions, save for Yuuki herself. She'd wow'd them, scared them, and intimidated them all at the same time.

Oh, and pissed off Holly, that too.


	27. Chapter 27

"Why am I not surprised?" Yuuki heaved a bored sigh as she paused the Youtube video of her singing. A student in her class had taken the video, hoping to embarrass her, but when she proved her skill, the video was an instant hit. It spread like wildfire, because once people figured out it was her, then Darkwood fans were all over it like flies on shit. "Fuckin' great, now I'm even more famous."

"Hey, chill. At least it's not a sex tape that's making you famous for something other than your last name." Jake was the one that had shown it to her, since he'd caught wind of it rather fast. "Then you could go get mad all you want."

"Nobody's bothering to realize this wasn't meant to be in a video. I didn't even see them recording either, I was too busy singing my ass off." Yuuki pouted, none too pleased by the outcome of her first music class. She'd been made the class favourite - for the teacher - and the most hated - for the students - in one fell swoop.

"In that case, make your own channel and sing all you want. It's not that hard." Jake suggested jokingly.

"Bullshit." Yuuki scoffed. "It's a lot harder than you think to sing, camera or people watching, it doesn't matter." Yuuki stared at the several million views of her singing, then paused for a moment. "A lot of pressure built up in me when I sang that song, I just... I just hid the fact by singing the way I did."

"That's fine, it's called performance anxiety. And you seemed to handle it rather well, if I do say so myself." Jake paused, staring at her with a small smile on his face. "You have an amazing voice, and you're self taught, right?" He asked, and she nodded. "So why not prove to the world over that you have something other than T-Virus in you. You have excellent stage presence, you're sexy as fuck, and you have skill. Prove that the name Darkwood isn't all about being a bioweapon."

Jake spoke with confident intensity as he gave his little speech, and Yuuki's steadfast refusal faltered for just a moment, long enough for her to purse her lips for a moment and sigh.

"Fine, I'll do _one_ song." Yuuki admitted defeat. "But I'm doing it on my terms, and that's final."

"Alright, I'll leave it to you." Jake backed off now that she'd agreed to do it. "You got this, I know it."

* * *

Several days later...

"Fuckin' hell..." Yuuki had everything finally prepared. She chose a specific location in the LA drainage canal - just under a bridge that wasn't used very often - as the backdrop, for two reasons: One, it was covered in street art - not gang tags or anything... Just art. Good art. - and two, the acoustics were amazing, so it would sound really good.

She had chosen several songs to sing earlier that day, but the one that really stuck with her was Rise, by Origa. It was also the song used for the intro of the anime adaptation's second season - Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig - of Ghost In The Shell. She idly mused that Stella would lose her fucking mind when she recognized it, and Motoko might like it too...

So, Yuuki stood in the center of the area in front of her newly purchased camera - a decent video camera with an added microphone and a massive data storage capacity - and pressed the record button before stepping back and beginning her prepared speech.

"Before I begin, that recent video of me singing at school was taken without my knowledge. Yes, I can sing, and yes, I've kept it a secret all this time. I have a reason for that, and I want to say right now, I will not reveal that reason, nor does anyone else know it. Look, I know I'm famous, I'm a T-Ghoul." Yuuki sighed for a moment before continuing. "But, like the opening quote of my family's reality show states, 'We are living weapons, we are Ghouls, and we are a family. Welcome to our life.' So, that being said, I'm showing the world just a little bit more of my human side. I know I was born into my fame, so I'm going to actually work towards it... by singing for you all, aware of the camera, aware of my actions, and intentionally putting it out for the world to hear."

Yuuki finished her speech, then tugged her earbuds out of her pocket and inserted them into her ears. "Until I've gotten a better tech setup, I'm just going to listen to the song with my phone and sing the song. And the one I've chosen for this video, my actual singing debut, is called Rise, by Origa."

With that, Yuuki tapped her phone to bring up the already prepared song, staring right into the camera as she pressed play.

* * *

Yuuki's fingers hovered over the keyboard, slightly shaking as she stared at the edited and finalized video file she'd had Sherry help her finish. The bridge area had been perfect, and her singing was flawless. All that needed to be done was remove the small moments at the start and end when she'd approached the camera to press the buttons.

It was now or never.

With a determined scowl, she started to upload the video, quickly typing out the necessary details and the title. When she'd finished, it was nearly finished, just a few more minutes left and there'd be no turning back.

Yuuki gulped as the progress bar ticked closer and closer to 100%, her hands were still shaking, but it wasn't fear anymore. It was from nerves.

"Hope you like it, Stella..." Yuuki sighed as the bar finished it's journey and a small text box appeared, saying 'Your video has successfully been uploaded'. " _And here... we... go!_ " Yuuki jokingly mocked as she imitated The Joker's hand motions from that exact line from a movie that was released a few years before she was born, The Dark Knight.

* * *

"Now you're just being cruel." Stella pouted as she lazily stirred her coffee with a spoon. "I had no idea you could sing, and lo and behold, when I see your video and find out, it's from mine and my wife's anime."

She and Yuuki were sitting at a cafe near the beach, both without their significant others. They were also conversing in Japanese, so they weren't eavesdropped upon. Yuuki had her hoodie and a pair of jeans, hiding her identity from nearby citizens. She also had a new purse - a gift from Sherry just after she'd uploaded her video - called a Holster Bag, that was hanging from her shoulder by the larger strap. Tucked inside was her USP.45, several spare mags of ammo and her knife. Her phone was in her hip pocket of her jeans, but the battery was nearly dead.

"I hoped you'd like that one." Yuuki replied, her hands likewise distracted as she drummed her fingers on the table with one hand, the other curled around her coffee cup. "How'd Motoko react when she saw it?"

"She was impressed, for sure." Stella nodded a few times. "She caught the homage to us too, she really liked that. I believe her words were 'I'm proud of her courage to take such a firm stance on her fame.'"

"I'm famous for something that occurred before I was born, at least I expressed it the way I did." Yuuki took a sip of her coffee as Stella smiled - Yuuki was able to distinguish the different ways her upper lip moved now - at her with a glint in her eyes. "Now I need to make sure nobody figures out where I did the video, it's such a nice spot to just be in. Doesn't even have to be for singing, I just like it there."

"Yeah, Motoko mentioned that." Stella nodded in understanding, then elaborated on her words. "She's one Japan's best hackers, and she couldn't get any location data out of your video. Only thing either of us could get from it was the time of day, about four thirty, right?"

"Yeah, about that." Yuuki nodded. "So only people that have directly been under that bridge would know, huh?"

"Exactly. You take advantage of that for as long as you can, sweetheart." Stella drank some of her coffee with one hand, her other resting on the table's surface.

"I could do some at home, it's not like my room's never been shown on Darkwood or anything." Yuuki thought out loud. "Maybe. Just as a backup plan, of course."

"I like that idea, good one." Stella smiled again. "So, hypothetically, if you were to upload another song, what one would it be?"

"Probably do a proper video for Daia No Hana, since the prick's recording was so shitty." Yuuki shrugged. "I have a list of songs that I'd originally planned to do instead of Rise." She reached into her bag and produced a folded piece of lined paper from one of her school notebooks.

Stella took the paper and opened it, her cyberbrain immediately translating Yuuki's Russian into Japanese kanji, then into English after a moment of concentration.

"Mind if I make a specific request?" Stella pointed at one of the songs. "I'd really like to hear you sing this one."

"Okay, I can do that." Yuuki knew the list well enough to recognize which one she was pointing at. "Hey, you've got that cyberbrain data channel with Motoko, right?"

"Indeed I do, there's just some things the boys back home shouldn't be hearing over our shared links." Stella quoted the movie with a smile. "Why? Do you want her to make a request too?"

"Yeah, could you..." Yuuki was relieved that Stella knew what she was asking, but before she could vocalize the question itself, Stella's hand slid down the page to another song on the list.

"She wants this one."

"It's live communication, I forgot." Yuuki cracked a smile as she confirmed the song for Motoko. That one was a fun song to sing. "So what's Motoko up to right now?"

"Body maintenance." Stella replied. "I had mine checked yesterday morning."

"So, I got a question... You're still organic, right?" Yuuki asked, and Stella tapped herself on the chest.

"Only my torso. My collarbones, shoulder blades and spine are both internally and externally reinforced with the same Titanium-alloy as the rest of my body." Stella slid her shirt's collar over to reveal the metal collarbone.

"So what's it like to get yourself fully checked out? Are there two doctors or engineers or whatever that do it?" Yuuki asked, knowing it was a very personal question.

"Well..." Stella sipped more coffee to take a moment to think. "I have a 'normal' doctor for my organic bits, a cyberbrain specialist for obvious reasons, and a robotics technician that does the repairs and examinations for my metal bits... and my weapons are left entirely to me."

"How many weapons do you have again?" Yuuki narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She knew about her various blades and the Rock Cannon inside her right arm, but if there were more, she had no clue.

"Finger claws, heelblades, katana blade, Cannon, and an integrated 5.56mm assault rifle." Stella listed them off. "Plus, though not weapons directly, my thighs are where I store my Beretta and it's ammo."

"Oooooh~!" Yuuki nodded in understanding. She knew about all of them except the assault rifle, which was - by method of elimination - stored alongside her katana in her left arm. She could see the small panel that covered the magwell in her forearm. "So, just curious, you got ammo for all of the guns, right?"

"Beretta's fully loaded, got ten spare mags inside my leg. Colt's my backup gun, so it's only got two spares. My Cannon's four shots down right now, it has 12 shots per power cell, and my spares for that are kept at home." Stella tapped her right arm with her left's index finger. "As for my assault rifle, it takes 5.56mm STANAG magazines, which I had three of right now. Usually I carry five, but I'm already well armed, so I ditched two this morning."

"Good, because we have some very unwelcome guests eavesdropping on us." Yuuki spoke in warning. "I smell gunpowder, so I think you and Motoko need to be in the know on some rather... private information after we get out of this ambush."

"I've got your back, you take the lead." Stella knew from Yuuki's tone alone that she was serious. Aside from her cybernetics, Stella knew she was still a mere human, so if Yuuki said she smelled gunpowder, she meant it.

Together they stood up and continued making small talk in Japanese as they moved out of the cafe's seating area, only for several men and two women to also start moving towards them, all with some sort of bag or jacket that - to the two combat trained women - could easily conceal a firearm.

"We shoot back, I am a cop after all." Stella reminded Yuuki, who now had her holster bag around her waist with the large strap, and the smaller one around her thigh. She could tell what Yuuki was preparing for... A gunfight.

"These fuckers aren't going to care." Yuuki replied, the top of her holster bag was already unclasped, ready to react. "Like I said, I'll tell you once we got out of this."

"Motoko's on her way, she's giving me some directions for where we can meet her." Stella reported as Yuuki fell into step at her side. "You think they're just gonna tail us, or are they waiting to attack?"

"They tail me a lot, but that's usually one or two goons. There's eight following us, and they're all hiding guns. They're going to attack us once they see an opportunity."

"Alright, I understand, let's try to get away from the civilians." Stella kept them on the route Motoko gave her, reporting everything to her with the data channel as they moved into a side street with shops on both sides and a vehicle barrier to bare the whole street as a pedestrian only path. Of course, it had decent cover, but there were a lot of people too. "Shit."

"Crowd's our best chance. They'd need to cause panic to flush us out." Yuuki replied as she lead the shorter cyborg into the civilians. "Guide me, you're the one with the map."

"We just need to get to the other end and take a right." Stella replied, but the words were barely out of her mouth when someone behind them screamed in terror.

Both of them looked back to see a woman had collided with one of their tails, briefly revealing his SCAR-H that he was concealing under his jacket. Yuuki immediately pulled her hood off her head and drew her USP as she shouted powerfully at the top of her - very impressive - voice.

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!"

All eight of the soldiers ditched their concealment and got their weapons - the same ones as the last time Yuuki fought them - out and at the ready. Civilians were running and screaming for the brief moment before the first man fired.

The Q-Bullets pinged off Yuuki's Scale Mail harmlessly, but the gunshots sent everyone into action. Stella had her Beretta out in an instant, diving over a raised brick lined garden as Yuuki returned fire.

"YOU STILL HAVEN'T FIGURED IT OUT YET?!" Yuuki yelled at the men as she backed up towards Stella's cover while still firing back as the eight soldiers took their own cover and popped out to shoot her. "YOUR GUNS CAN'T DO FUCK ALL AGAINST ME!"

"Yuuki! Motoko's coming to us!" Stella reported as she popped up to fire a single 3-round burst at the nearest of the soldiers. "Who the hell are these guys?!"

Yuuki didn't reply, she was still firing at them. After a moment, she reached Stella's cover and quickly vaulted over to join her. "Long story short, they're goons for a wanted bioterrorism suspect."

"Who?" Stella fired two more bursts over the top of the bricks. Whoever they were, they were good.

"Albert Wesker, the Umbrella Corporation's ex-Chairman. He's the man that gave the order to turn my family into T-Ghouls seventeen years ago." Yuuki replied, firing at the soldiers from the side of the bricks, hitting one in the chest with two bullets. They dropped dead in an instant.

"What's the point in attacking you? Isn't that a bit counter-intuitive?!" Stella fired the last bursts from her Beretta and quickly reloaded from her leg.

"He's got a vendetta against my family, I'll explain later." Yuuki also reloaded her gun with a new mag, keeping up their return fire as Stella claimed her first kill on the Neo-Umbrella goons. "Can you blast them with your Cannon?"

"Too risky, collateral damage." Stella wanted very much to use her Cannon, but there were still civilians in the area, and the structural damage if she missed wouldn't be pretty. "Motoko's almost here, she's gonna pull up behind us, are you ready to run?"

"You first, I'm bulletproof like this." Yuuki gestured to her Scale Mail. "On three. One... Two... Three!"

Stella took off, and Yuuki kept up the gunfire as she also ran. She felt a few bullets pinging off her back, so she made sure to keep herself directly behind Stella so that her fleshy torso didn't get hit.

Up ahead, they saw Motoko pulling to a hasty halt in the pair's silver Honda, and they got in without a moment of hesitation and Motoko peeled away without even a glance at them.

"Now can you fill us in?" Stella sighed as she checked her Beretta's mag before slamming it back into the gun.

"Not yet, we need to get out of here." Yuuki wasn't keen on being chased in the car, but she still didn't think that it was over. They'd have known by now that she'd prioritize escaping over killing. "If my phone wasn't dead, I could call my dad..."

"I already took care of that." Motoko spoke up as she expertly weaved through gaps in the traffic. "He told me to get you out, he'd take care of them."

"How did you...?" Yuuki began, but remembered that Motoko was a skilled hacker. "Oh, right... hacker."

"No, I called his cellphone once Stella told me what you'd said about that bioterrorist." Motoko smiled briefly before adding. "That would've been my second choice if I didn't already have his number."

"Should I even ask?" Yuuki checked behind them, nobody was chasing them.

"Your father's a smart man, he enlisted my help recently to do some hacking. He gave me his number in case he needed my help again." Motoko sighed as she glanced at Yuuki in the back seat. "Are you two alright?"

"Bulletproof scales, I'm alright." Yuuki indicated her Scale Mail, which she hadn't deactivated yet as a precaution. "Stella's squishy bits seem okay to me. You good?" She turned to Stella, who patted herself down to be sure.

"Yeah, I'm good. How's the car, I thought I heard a few rounds hitting it." Stella checked the doors, but there weren't any holes to speak of.

"I didn't hear any hit, and the glass is fine." Yuuki shook her head with a shrug. "I think we're good now, where did my dad say to take me?"

"Home." Motoko slowed down to the speed limit as they finally relaxed. "I guess we're in for a debriefing when we arrive?"

"More like you might want a few drinks and somewhere to sit while we explain everything." Yuuki wasn't joking. It was some really intense shit, even for the two of them. "It'll take a while, for sure."

* * *

 **A/N: Last one for today, I'll add a few more tomorrow.**


	28. Chapter 28

"I heard about the Raccoon City Incident, but I had no idea it was caused like that." Motoko was clearly surprised to hear the truth of the city's destruction. "The official story's much more believable, to put it simply."

"I was the one that kept it under wraps, with assistance from Natasha of course." Tobias nodded. "The political power of Umbrella wasn't enough at the time to suppress the events and handle it themselves, so I took them down in one fell swoop by providing such damning evidence."

"So, wait... you orchestrated and covered up the entire thing?!" Stella was dumbstruck as Tobias nodded. "I don't want to sound rude or anything, but wasn't that... bioterrorism?"

"It is." Tobias nodded, not offended at all. "Only thing about it was I'm not able to be held legally accountable because I immediately went and said what I did, how I did it and why. It's because of that fact that my family and I have such powerful diplomatic immunities, both for being Ghouls and for any violence or aggressive behaviours."

"Alright, so about the attack earlier. Yuuki seemed to have experience with this Albert Wesker's meddling." Motoko rested her forearms on the table as she spoke. "She said he has a vendetta against your family."

"Correct, he's head of a group calling themselves Neo-Umbrella. They've attacked her twice now, plus tried to plant spies close to the family as a whole. I know he hasn't given up on his revenge from Raccoon City, he's just waiting for the right moment to unleash a proper attack instead of single squads attacking my daughter out in public." Tobias explained. "Very few people aside from my family know about this, so I have to ask that it stays under wraps. This is an off-record BSAA investigation, and only people I trust are privy to the full details."

"You trust us, I'm sure." Motoko nodded in respect. "So, if you have anything we could look at for intel, we could do our own angle of the investigation. We are police, after all."

"I know, and all the material intel we have is upstairs. The rest has been explained already." Tobias stood up, and the two cyborgs likewise got up. "I've got Sere tasked with the corpses of the two soldiers we've captured so far, she's our Yandere."

"Sere? You mean Serenity Cora Avalise, the artist?" Stella asked, familiar with the shorthand nickname. She'd been to the blonde's recent exhibition. "Fuck, where'd you find her?"

"Raccoon City. She's a T-Ghoul, Subject Fox was her Umbrella identification." Tobias smirked as he lead the pair upstairs, passing Yuuki and Jake - who'd arrived to check on her when he'd heard about the gunfight - in the hall.

"Am... I missing something?" Jake asked as the trio went up the staircase. Yuuki shook her head.

"They're going to help take down your dad." Yuuki answered. "Dad's just bringing them up to speed with what we know."

"Motoko's a hacker, she'd be useful to get any data he'd be using or hiding." Jake wasn't fazed, just another set of hands to assist. "If we manage to get anything for her to work with, of course."

"She'll find something, I believe in her." Yuuki replied. "Stella too, I trust them both."

* * *

Yuuki was right, Motoko did manage to dig something up within an hour of leaving the Darkwood house. She called Tobias and explained what she'd pulled from some hidden databases.

"Interesting, I had no idea the Archives were still being used." Tobias stroked his jaw, thinking about the new information. "Yeah, that's probably the best course of action right now. Excellent. Thank you, Motoko." He hung up and turned to Yuuki, who was making a coffee nearby. "She managed to pull a strong lead out of the old Umbrella databases. She's going to dig a bit further and pass the results onto Alice."

"You think Wesker's that stupid?" Yuuki asked, stirring her coffee. "Seems oddly convenient, if you ask me."

"I planted the data termination virus into their central network myself. Whatever survived it must've been partitioned or not even connected to the network itself. Wesker must've been using that ever since to rebuild. I don't even know how much he had, but it was clearly enough for him to work with."

"You have a point, and I have no idea how she does it either, so I'll just stick to the occasional gunfight and keep checking on that submarine they've got off the coast." Yuuki shrugged, taking her coffee with her as she left.

* * *

"Sir, the team was wiped out, Subject Six has publicly revealed her possession of the captured corpses from both attack squads a few minutes ago."

"I thought she was reported to be with her female companion?" Wesker narrowed his eyes, anger rising in his chest.

"Just a female companion, sir. It was not her usual one." The man replied. "The team's communications prior to Subject Four's arrival indicated that the companion was combat experienced and had additional escape assistance from a second, unidentified companion. Gender of that person is unknown, the escape was too fast."

"She's making friends, I see..." Wesker relaxed as he sat back in his chair, thinking hard. All of their current intel didn't show Yuuki doing such a thing, but it was clearly working in her favour. "So, who is this... companion? The combatant one?"

"All details are useless, sir. Conflict with Subject Four and Subject Seven's positioning between her and the squad during the escape itself prevented successful identification."

"Very well, you're dismissed." Wesker waved him away, and once the door closed, he leaned forward, tenting his fingers together with his elbows on his desk. "A change of plans is in order... I think it's about time I spoke to Mr. Irving about that favour he owes me..."

* * *

"I've seen his name in other cases, he's a slippery little bastard." Alice heaved a huge sigh. "Ricardo Irving. greedy and cowardly, but damn good at getting out by the skin of his teeth."

"He was involved in a gun smuggling case back in Japan, but he vanished under the radar - ours and the criminal one - before we were able to make a move on capturing him. I had no idea he was involved in bioterrorism." Motoko disconnected the cables from the back of her neck after her successful find.

"He's little more than a delivery boy, by the look of things, but even a part-time pizza delivery boy reports directly to his boss when he's summoned." Alice shook her head in disgust. "Has he been sighted in the country yet?"

"No, he's last been sighted in Africa. Some merchant from a shipping company called HCLI reported the sighting after they saw a news report about him. They had photographic proof, but he's gone." Motoko explained. "That was yesterday morning, our time."

"If he's got ties to Wesker, then he's already fucking here in LA." Alice had her phone out and Tobias' number on speed dial. "We've got a problem, Wesker's got a delivery boy... Ricardo Irving, yeah... yeah, _that_ Irving. Motoko did, yeah... Africa, a merchant from HCLI got a picture of him before he disappeared. Alright, we'll keep digging, do svidaniya." She hung up and turned back to the purple haired cyborg. "Toby's calling in a favour, I shudder to think of what that person owes my son if he's calling in one of his favours."

"I take it they're valuable?" Motoko asked, recalling that Alice was Tobias' adoptive mother from his explanation of Raccoon City.

"Earning the privilege to call him Toby is very hard for someone to receive. For Toby to cash in a favour, it's likely that Irving's going to be stuck to Toby's radar like roadkill." Alice explained. "I owe him two, and he hasn't cashed them in."

"What's the circumstances?" Motoko asked, very curious.

"I literally owe him my life, and the other's... hard to explain." Alice admitted. "I owe him, let's leave it at that, Motoko."

"By all means, Alice." Motoko nodded in understanding. "So how long will this favour of his take?"

"Knowing him... the poor sap's already been reminded of their debt and they're on the move right this second." Alice smirked. "Not long, by any stretch of the phrase."


	29. Chapter 29

"Excellent, keep me posted." Tobias' short phone call ended with a dark laugh from deep in his throat, rising into a full laugh as he slid his thumb back across the screen to make another call. "Chris, assemble the team, we're tracking Ricardo Irving here in LA. He's involved with an off-record case I'm working on right now."

"You called in a favour, didn't you?" Chris didn't even need to verify the target. He was on the top ten bioterrorists list for the BSAA, right under Albert Wesker, Jack Krauser and the ever elusive HUNK, A.K.A 'Mr. Death'.

"Yes I did. Assemble the team at the base in my office, I'll be there shortly to brief everyone." Tobias hung up and turned to Rize, who had snuck up behind him and wrapped her arms around his chest and propped her chin onto his shoulder.

"Those favours of yours are worthy of legend." Rize teased him, but gave her husband a stern glare. "If I even smell a hint of smoke on you when you get back, we're getting a divorce."

"To be fair, it's not an assault, it's an arrest. I need Irving alive, and then we can sic Sere on him once we've gotten what we need from him." Tobias smiled at her. "Or you could do the honours..."

"Get him first, then we'll cross that bridge when we get there." Rize replied. "I love you."

"I love you too." Tobias replied, kissing his wife before she let him go.

* * *

"Fuckin' favours, yo." Carlos was the first to speak after Tobias explained the arrest mission details. "Glad I don't owe you none, those things are scary."

"You're a survivor of Raccoon City, and a former member of my Syndicate too. If anything, I'm the one that owes you, Carlos." Tobias tapped his finger on the live drone feed that was tracking Irving. "Now, Irving's currently en route to a motel in preparation for his assignment we suspect he's received from Wesker. Our mission is to get him captured, unharmed, so that me and my family can beat the ever living fuck out of him while we interrogate him. We're going in full gear, he's known to carry weapons, both ballistic and biological. Gear up and meet me at the Humvees in fifteen minutes."

"What about police and local government?" Chris asked.

"Alice and Motoko are handling that as we speak." Tobias replied. "Let's go!"

* * *

Yuuki, Jake and Sherry were walking along the walking paths that bordered the sandy beach when they heard the sounds of multiple diesel engined vehicles approaching from behind them. They all turned, and went pale.

"Those are BSAA Humvees..." Yuuki stopped right in her tracks upon catching sight of a soldier in one of the Humvee's roof turrets... He had an activated T-13 Exo-Suit. "Oh fuck, it's my dad!"

Fumbling for her phone, she called him and he answered on the first ring. "Dad, I can see you guys, what's going on?"

"I called in a favour, I've got a known bioterrorist being tracked as we speak. Me and the team are making an official BSAA arrest. His name is Ricardo Irving."

"Sounds like a douche to me." Yuuki commented to herself, then relaxed about the whole thing. "Alright, one step closer to Wesker."

"Exactly. Now, I'll call you after it's all over, okay?" Yuuki gave a hum of agreement, so he bade her goodbye and hung up.

"Whoever it is, they're fucked, aren't they?" Jake asked, and Yuuki nodded.

"Yeah, he's fucked." Yuuki nodded. "Some fucker named Irving."

"At least nobody's shooting at us this time..." Sherry pointed out, and they both nodded in agreement. "C'mon, let's keep going. Your dad's a professional, he'll be fine."

"That's what I was told when he went to Eastern Europe, Sherry." Yuuki sighed, remembering how her father survived the napalm strike but faked his death in the process to shed light on Neo-Umbrella.

* * *

"Sir... Irving's been arrested by the BSAA."

"I didn't anticipate he'd be so careless, after his extensive track record." Wesker sighed, idly examining the single vial of the new viral weapon strain that Irving had smuggled to LA from Africa, where he had a formerly abandoned Umbrella research facility converted into a viral weapon facility.

Unfortunately, he only had one dose, the rest had been compromised by Africa's own BSAA agents - who also completely destroyed the facility as well - so it was a Hail Mary last resort to use this new virus...

The C-Virus.

* * *

"I had a debt to repay, so I did the delivery for Wesker to clear it. It was supposes to be a whole crate, but it got seized over in Africa. Some fuckin' white haired arms dealer bitch with this young silver haired, red eyed kid with a scar on his cheek blew the whistle on me, so I grabbed one of the vials and bailed. Just my luck to get the BSAA's super-soldier to be the one to catch me over here."

"You delivered the vial to Wesker, didn't you?" Tobias had his feet up on the steel table, his arms crossed. Both of the chairs and the table itself were welded to the floor, and Irving's hands were handcuffed directly to a sturdy steel bar, likewise welded in place. He didn't react when Irving described Koko Heckmatyar and her young - compared to herself - bodyguard, Jonah. She was still kicking ass and selling ballistic weapons, it seemed, even after all these years.

"Dead drop, I took the vial to an arranged spot, put it where I was told, and I left. Youse just happened to catch me on my way out of the country." Irving answered. "Hey, I'm just a delivery boy, I got no authority with that prick. What good does questionin' me do you?"

"You've just confirmed a new biological weapon is in the country, delivered by your hands no less. You're on our top ten list, and you have ties to Wesker. So, that leaves me to order you to give all contact details, locations, names, everything you know about Wesker and Neo-Umbrella, otherwise Sere's going to enjoy torturing you a little _too_ much... right, Sere?"

"I always enjoy it too much, sweetie." Sere materialized from her invisibility, perched on the table's empty space in a very sassy manner. "So, delivery boy... What'll it be?"

"O-okay, okay! So here's what I got..." Irving quickly buckled and started to talk. He'd heard rumours of this crazy woman's methods, and they scared the shit out of him.

* * *

"I'm in."

Motoko had made quick work of the Umbrella database, but now that she was armed with the intel provided by Irving, she found a backdoor that took her straight to another hub of data, cleverly hidden inside mundane files and reports.

"Definitely has military-grade security programs, but since I'm using legit codes and passwords, I'm fine. Just in case I'm caught though, I have stronger defensive barriers than their attack codes can generate." Motoko reported as she expertly collected the data without leaving a trace. "Hmmm, that's a clever trick, for sure."

Her comment caught Tobias' attention, so he looked up and asked. "What's so clever?"

"That submarine Yuuki's been tracking, it's the physical location of all of these servers. It's got a skeleton crew aboard, all of the sub's weapons are gone. It's not a military one like we'd initially thought."

"That makes her job much easier, and certainly more enjoyable." Tobias smirked, he knew what she'd do during her next recon visit when she found out. "Anything about this C-Virus that Irving delivered?"

"I haven't found them yet, but I did find several more persons of interest in the city, plus key locations related to Neo-Umbrella as well." Motoko replied, then hummed in thought. "I think I've got something. It's just been uploaded to the servers."

"Take your time, I can wait." Tobias knew better than to rush this process. Motoko was connected covertly using authorized access, that was by no means a simple feat.

"It's research data..." Motoko didn't have the time to read everything, but she gathered that it pertained - in general - to the mutation-like process of some insect's chrysalis. "It's ours now. Oh, it looks like more's being uploaded."

"Get what you can. You're saving it all locally, right?" Tobias didn't recognize most of her hacking equipment, nor did he care. All he needed was a way to view and examine the data himself.

"External storage unit. It's the one on my left." Motoko wasn't able to move her body while hacking, and her speech was done without moving her mouth, to save on her cyberbrain's processing speed. "Got the new data, more research notes. Similar theme to the first... Oh my, there's a video file now."

"I think that's the last of it, for now at least." Tobias trusted his gut instinct. There wasn't anymore after the video.

"Once I get it, I'll clear my tracks and disconnect. Then we can go over what we've found." Motoko fell silent after that, still keeping her presence unnoticeable. She got the video and cleared her tracks in the database before disconnecting herself safely. She blinked before reaching up to pull the cables out from her neck. "Alright, we're clear. Let's get started on this intel."


	30. Chapter 30

"So the C-Virus is like that T-Abyss variant that Jill investigated a few years ago in the Mediterranean Ocean... The Terragrigia Incident and the Queen Zenobia." Alice finished reading all of the intel that Motoko had procured. "Only difference is that it's insectoid mutations, rather than aquatic."

"That video showed their initial testing with live subjects." Motoko explained what she'd watched. "Spider, moth, centipede, and beetle traits were what were confirmed. The rest of the video was methods of killing them. Fire and explosives seemed to work the best for all of them."

"Wesker's got one dose, so it's gotta be his trump card. He's experienced firsthand when a bioweapon fails to bond with the host, so I doubt he'd use it on himself. He's probably planning to use it to create a pandemic."

"Irving gave a phone number that Wesker called from, I can hack into the device and get a location that the call was made from." Motoko reinserted the cables into her neck and sat down. She went still as she started her task, and after only two minutes, she had the GPS co-ordinates of the call's origin. "I've got it... But the spot's not on land, it's open ocean."

"It can't be the sub, so... Wesker's aboard a ship." Alice concluded. "Son of a bitch, that makes things a lot harder, doesn't it?"

"For us, yeah. We need Yuuki to switch from watching the sub to confirming whatever this ship is. Considering the sub's purpose, the ship's a warship. No doubts there." Tobias wasn't particularly pleased by this, but at the same time, Wesker was playing it smart. Staying in international waters aboard a ship kept him off the radar compared to being on land. "I could fly over it, but she's faster in the water than I am in the air."

"So we take the possible risk that she'd be spotted?" Motoko asked, knowing the risks.

"She's our best option, and she's just scouting it. We don't have enough evidence yet to launch an assault, let alone make any arrests." Tobias didn't like their options either, but it was necessary.

* * *

Yuuki was fast approaching the ship's last known GPS co-ordinates, rocketing through the water at top speed. She eventually detected the distant vibrations of the ship's propellers, so she locked onto her target and adjusted her course until the ship's huge hull loomed several leagues above her head.

Judging by the shape, it was likely an aircraft carrier, but regardless she had to surface to confirm that, so she carefully swam to the side of the ship's hull and slowly surfaced near the bow.

"Should've known he'd pull that fucking joke... Asshole." Yuuki spotted the ship's name, _Der Reichstag_ , adorning the side of the bow, so she grabbed the waterproof tracking device that her father'd given to her for the job and turned it on before sliding the cover off the magnetic back and stuck it to the hull. It beeped once and the light turned on, so with her task completed, she sank below the waves and aimed herself homeward.

She hadn't been spotted by anyone aboard the ship's deck. Nobody was the wiser.

* * *

"Fucking prick named his ship ' _Der Reichstag_ '. It's an aircraft carrier, and I got the tracker on the hull near the bow, it's above the waterline by about four feet. Nobody saw me, I was too fast, I'm sure of it." Yuuki reported as she got home from the ship, it took her just under an hour to swim straight to the ship and back.

"Excellent, now that we have a way to keep track of him, we can focus on forcing him into making a move on us..." Tobias nodded in approval, but Yuuki's phone suddenly rang and she answered it.

"Hello?"

"Yuuki, Jake's missing, I went to his apartment and the place looks like he's been dragged off somewhere." Sherry's anxious voice came through the line immediately, denoting her panic.

"Shit, this isn't good. Get over here, right now." Yuuki didn't even wait for her reply as she hung up. "You heard her?"

"I did. Now we need to verify if it was Wesker's doing, and not a robbery." Tobias was coolly calm, and Yuuki knew he was doing it to keep her calm too. It was working, but she wasn't just going to wait for the dickhead to call. She'd call Jake's phone and hope to hell that Wesker had the balls to answer it himself.

"Miss Darkwood, how may I be of assistance?" The Austrian accented, smoothly arrogant drawling voice that came through her phone made her freeze. "If it's concerning my son, then you are to meet at a specified location, alone, without your phone or firearm, or you'll never see him again."

"I don't need a gun to kill you, just tell me where the fuck you want me." Yuuki snarled, and Wesker laughed.

"So unlike your father, yet so similar at the same time." Wesker sounded amused, but gave the location without a hint of that momentary humour, then hung up before Yuuki could say anything.

"For Jake's sake, I need to do this, you understand, I know you do..." Yuuki held out her phone and pulled her gun out of her jacket. "Bastard didn't say fuck all about a knife though. His mistake."

"Make me proud, my little Yuki-onna." Tobias took the two items and pulled her into a hug. "Jake's family, an honourary Russian."

"And nobody fucks with Russians!" Yuuki smiled weakly, but Tobias smiled at her.

"No, Wesker just happened to decide to fuck with the _wrong_ Russian." Tobias shook his head. " _You_."

* * *

Yuuki arrived on her bike, already aware of the two goons flanking the entrance to the warehouse that Wesker directed her to. They watched her carefully as she approached, but one held up a hand to stop her.

"We have our orders, please remove your jacket and leg pouch. We must check you for weapons."

" _Baka_." Yuuki mockingly sneered at them as she effortlessly grabbed them both by the throats. "I _am_ the fucking weapon!"

With a great heave, she threw them both through the door, leaving a dusty shaft of sunlight streaming inside as she strode inside with all of her spider eyes open, keeping an eye out for any bullshit.

"You do know that it was unlocked, don't you?" Wesker's voice spoke up from an upper catwalk ahead of her. "No need to be so rough..."

"Where's Jake?!" Yuuki snarled, baring her fangs. She didn't see him anywhere, it was a trap.

"He's right up here, sitting handcuffed to a pipe." Wesker gestured over his shoulder, out of Yuuki's field of view. "So... Miss Yuuki... Serafima... Darkwood. I see you take very much after your mother, though your father's traits aren't lost on me in the slightest." Wesker slowly descended the metal staircase at the side of the upper catwalk, approaching her until her Kagune lunged towards his throat. He stopped six inches away, her Bikaku quivering in anticipation at the failed attack. "Ah, a Bikaku... I expected a Koukaku, like your father."

"Skip the bullshit, Wesker, why did you bring me here?" Yuuki's six Kakugan were watching Wesker's every move. His outfit oddly reminded her of her father's old style, a longcoat over a black suit, white shirt and red tie. She could also see the slight print of his shoulder holster and pistol under the suit too.

"You father put over seven hundred bullets into my body, tore my company down with his bare hands, and ruined my life's achievements. To add insult to injury, he so proudly protects the world from bioterrorists... yet he himself is perhaps the first one, the creator of the aptly called Raccoon City Incident. The blood of over 130,000 people is on his hands, yet he got away with it, and used the nuclear missile strike to hide all evidence of his crimes. So forgive me for taking drastic measures you arrange this meeting, but it's necessary for justice."

"You're fucking delusional!" Yuuki snapped at him. "My dad kept the city contained the whole time, and took down the fucking source! You!" She took a step forward, but slightly withdrew her Kagune. "So answer my fucking question! _WHY! THE! FUCK! AM! I! HERE?!_ " Yuuki yelled at him, and he laughed quietly to himself before smiling at her.

"Why indeed? You see, killing a man isn't as simple as your father makes it out to be. Ending his life with a gun pales in comparison to when that same man is slowly eaten from the inside by despair, by his own emotions. Our objectives are the same, to kill each other, but our methods are what set us apart. I am a tactician, a thinker if you will... but your father is a soldier. A doer, a man of _actions speaking louder than words_. Oh yes, I know that story about his year long vow of silence to avenge your adoptive grandmother. Such devotion, it's quite commendable, if it weren't in vain."

"You're under the impression she's dead, aren't you?" Yuuki laughed. "Alice is alive, fucker. She's been in hiding until the right time to come back, and motherfucker, she's back. She's been working in the BSAA the whole fucking time."

"So, Miss Yuuki, do you have aspirations to join their ranks? Become the BSAA's next super soldier, just like your father?" Wesker's smile didn't falter, and Yuuki realized that up until that very moment, Wesker's gaze - behind his sunglasses - had been aimed directly at her without moving an inch.

But he just looked up at something behind her.

She couldn't react fast enough as the Quinque Steel dart pierced the small exposed part of her lower back between her belts and her corset, right beside the base of her Kagune.

In an instant, her knees gave out, dropping her to the dusty and dirty concrete floor. She was in agony, writhing and twitching as Wesker held up an empty vial.

"My trump card, the C-Virus, created specifically to tear your father to pieces... by attacking your extremely unstable genetic composition. I know what it'll do to you, so I'll be taking my leave now." Wesker spoke with a voice dripping with cockiness, but he left her foaming at the mouth, violently shaking on the floor as he left.

There was nothing she could do, the C-Virus had totally disabled her regeneration, she couldn't move, and her _everything_ was in agony. Even her eyes were in pain!

She really fucked up, Wesker won... She'd failed and now this motherfucker had essentially poisoned her, leaving her to die. The anger was rising in her chest, she wanted to kill him, tear out his guts, drink his blood, grind his teeth into dust, sink her fangs into his flesh, inject her venom into his heart...

With a sharp gasp, Yuuki froze. She wasn't in pain anymore, and what's this about her venom? She wasn't a snake... Was she dead? She didn't think so...

Planting her palms onto the concrete, she tried to push herself into an upright position, but her legs were a tangled and useless mess. She growled in frustration, checking behind her to confirm if she still had them...

She... Did not.

* * *

 **A/N: HNTDS, remember how you said that Wesker actually had a soul? You were right in that regard, but I think it's a bit obvious that he doesn't have a heart. Toby probably destroyed it in Raccoon City, so all that's possibly left now would be a void in his chest.**


	31. Chapter 31

Yuuki wasn't exactly prepared for what she saw, but she did the first thing that came to mind...

She _screamed_.

He legs were gone, replaced by the shiny, glossy black exoskeletal chitin of a spider's eight legs. And a thorax, which bore a cyan coloured rendition of her tribal spider tattoo across the armoured surface.

As her senses caught up with her, Yuuki realized that she had to stand up, otherwise she'd be stuck on her back like a fucking retarded turtle. The daunting task of controlling her mutated body took a moment of preparation, but slowly, very slowly, she managed to flip herself upright - with three languages worth of swearing and a lot of effort - and forced herself to rise to a standing position.

Taking a moment to steady herself on the eight blade-like legs, Yuuki took several long, careful minutes mentally rewriting her body's natural sixth sense. She took the time to move and learn each leg, then after several tentative steps, managed to keep herself upright without issue.

"Fuck, just take it slow, nothing fancy." She spoke to herself in a reassuring voice as she focused on devoting the process to muscle memory. She eventually got the hang of it, taking several laps of the large, open warehouse at a jog to get used to having eight thin legs instead of two sturdy ones.

It was only then did she remember to look straight down, recalling her previous anatomy with negative expectations, but she blinked in confusion... however the mutation came into existence, her normal legs seemed to be the large, hook-like pair connected to her hips, leaving the rest of her spider body to essentially sprout from her lower back and conform to her curves from the outside.

A quick scan of the floorspace revealed her heeled boots had been kicked off during the mutation process, unscathed by very dusty. She still had her pants - and after a moment of self awareness, her panties - firmly in place, it was just her feet didn't exist. There were a pair of sharp hook-like bits in place at the end of her calfs.

Taking a very careful and slow approach, she managed to 'crouch' her front legs low enough to retrieve her boots, sighing sadly. She had no further use for them if this mutation wasn't reversible like most of her other powers.

Wait, that's it!

Yuuki's spider eyes snapped open as she mentally forced her Kagune to whip out of her back, but with a groan of pain, she collapsed flat on her face as her back reacted painfully.

After a moment of mentally struggling, Yuuki realized she didn't hear any of the now familiar tinking and scratching of her spider legs. A worried look behind her revealed that she was back to normal, wiggling her toes like an idiot.

"Motherfucker..." Yuuki started to cry, she was back to normal. She could control it! It was a mutation of her Kagune!

Sitting in a way that was stable enough to work with, Yuuki practiced several times with forcing her Kagune to mutate into her spider body, and she realized that her hands also bore the same chitin-like armour, extending about halfway up her forearms to transition back to her normal flesh.

Extending her claws was once an effortless, quick task. Now, she apprehensively stared at her new hands as she brought forth the familiar mental command, causing her already sharp chitin claws to extend into six inch long blades, made of the same chitin and razor sharp. Reverting them was just as easy as she was used to, so she smiled. Things were turning out alright... for now. She still had some shit to check over, including things underwater.

A sudden groan reached her ears, and Yuuki reverted herself back to normal in a panic, ready to defend herself, but then she realized the two goons were completely dead...

" _Jake!_ "

She ran up the stairs, tears in her eyes as she spotted Jake handcuffed to a pipe, just like Wesker had said he was.

"The fuck happened here?" Jake seemed to be alright, and he could already see the evidence of her handiwork. "I know that hole's yours."

"Your dad arranged a meeting with me, he used you as bait to lure me into a trap." Yuuki was debating on whether or not to show Jake her mutated Kagune, but she needed to get them both out of there. "Hang on, I need to check you, hold still."

After breaking the handcuffs off his wrist, she used her limited first aid skills to check him over. He'd been knocked out by a head strike, but he seemed to not have a concussion. He stood up and kept his balance well, so they both left on her bike, headed back to speak to Tobias about the whole event.

* * *

"Kakuja?" Yuuki was extremely confused by the term she'd never even heard of before.

"By the sound of it, the C-Virus fucked up your Kagune more than your body. So, a Kakuja is normally formed when a Ghoul eats a lot of other Ghouls' flesh instead of humans. It's not a pleasant experience, and it can cost them their ability to think rationally. This spider body mutation of yours... It certainly behaves like a Kakuja, so that's my theory. It hit the Kagune, not you." Tobias explained.

"Are Kakuja's common?" Yuuki asked, slightly worried. She'd managed to get her Kagune back to the normal spear-tail, but it took a moment of concentration to force it to mutate into the spider body.

"Not common, but not rare either." Tobias shook his head. "You already know two Ghouls that have Kakuja's."

"Who?" Yuuki's eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Your uncle... and me." Tobias replied. "Mine's too big for the house, but unlike your uncle, I don't lose my mind when I use it."

"Wait, you... cannabilized other Ghouls?" Yuuki's eyes widened in shock. Her father was...

"Nearly two thousand of them." Tobias nodded. "I let the CCG capture me during the few months before your grandmother died, and I proceeded to slaughter their entire prison on a scientific whim. I was testing the T-Virus' effects on the formation of a Kakuja, which Kaneki already had before he received the T-Virus." He sighed. "After that, I've periodically had to consume more Ghouls to upgrade or repair my Kakuja, which by now resembles a very large dragon."

"And Uncle Kaneki's Kakuja?" Yuuki asked, the mental image of her father turning into a dragon oddly lackluster. She'd ask for a display later.

"His is still classed as a half-Kakuja, but it's a beak-like mask with a few chitin pieces on his shoulders and spine, but his Rinkaku tentacles turn into these... centipede things. They're hard to describe. But, his is all purple and mine's white. What colour is yours?"

"It's black and really glossy, but the ass has a bright blue version of my spider tattoo." Yuuki described her Kakuja after a moment of remembering.

"Interesting. I know mine and Sere's tattoos perfectly regenerate when our flesh is wounded, but I had no idea your tattoo would even transfer to your Kakuja."

"I'm already infamous for the tattoo, the last fucking thing I need is to be caught with my Kakuja, then all I'd fucking hear is ' ** _Itsy bitsy Spider-Yuuki_**!' Fuck, that would _not_ end well..."

"Doesn't matter to me, you'll always be my little Yuki-onna." Tobias gave Yuuki a hug as he spoke. "Wesker fucked up and gave you a new way to fight, simple as that."

* * *

 **A/N: _Itsy Bitsy Spider-Yuuki_ is the name of this chapter in my computer, hence why it was bolded and in italics. I may not be naming them on here, but they still have names on my end as a means to identify what I wrote if I need to go back to check things, like quotes or descriptions.**


	32. Chapter 32

Yuuki waited in silence, her ambush laid out with careful precision. Once it was tripped, she'd pounce...

Her eyes opened suddenly. She felt it...

Detaching herself from the ceiling, she expertly landed on her prepared network of nearly invisible threads, not making a single sound as her target passed beneath her.

With a smile she aimed her thorax and shot out an anchoring thread, slowly and silently descending to the right height just as her final tripwire thread snapped against her target's shin.

Without hesitating she severed her anchor and slammed down onto her target's back from above, extending her razor sharp claws and slashed their throat.

" _Itadakimasu!_ "

She made quick work of jumping back up to the shadowy ceiling, hauling her kill up with her. She'd made a sturdy net beforehand to hold the corpse while she ate, so she spent the next twenty minutes devouring the corpse.

Once she'd had her fill, she brought what was left back down to the ground and disintegrated her Kakuja, letting her bare feet softly touch down as she extracted her calling card from her hip.

"So much more fun this way." Yuuki commented to herself as she placed the card in the wide wound in the man's neck.

Although her methods were altered, she still hunted on her usual schedule. Her Kakuja gave her new means of hunting, mobility and amusement, but she still had to eat flesh. She briefly shuddered at the recent memory of her father handing her a wrapped package of Ghoul flesh. It tasted disgusting, but as he reminded her, it was strictly for her Kakuja. She had to consume Ghoul flesh to maintain it and repair any possible injuries it sustained, since it was separate from her normal regenerative capabilities - both Virus and Ghoul.

But, one glance around her was enough to recall that this old warehouse - her kill was a maintenance man - wasn't very often frequented. Not exactly abandoned, but not used either. She pulled out her phone as she sat on the floor, putting the device on speakerphone as she put her boots back on.

"Los Angeles Commission for Counter Ghoul, how may I help you?"

"Yuuki Darkwood, reporting a kill." Yuuki spoke without a hint of remorse in her voice.

"One moment, Miss Darkwood." The woman on the line put her on hold for about thirty seconds, then a male voice spoke up from the device.

"Present location and number of corpses, please."

Yuuki gave the address and detailed the single corpse, and the man cleared his throat as he asked. "Are you still on site?"

"Yes, I am. I arrived on foot." Yuuki picked up her phone and disabled speaker, bring it up to her ear. "Body's inside the warehouse, right in the open. Can't miss it, and my card's visible, like always."

"You know the rules, vacate immediately." The Investigator hung up, neither needed to say anything else.

Yuuki ended the call and slid her phone back into her holster bag, which was in it's usual place on her leg. She stood up, dusted herself off and left. She even saw the CCG team sent to clean up the corpse as she walked home.

* * *

"So, Yuuki, have you recorded anymore songs?" The interviewer asked after pulling Yuuki aside during Darkwood's recording hours.

"I have, yeah. No previews, everyone gets the video by the same means." Yuuki answered, her hands on her hips. "I'll upload it when I feel like it."

Nothing more needed to be said, so she walked away to go back to her homework.

* * *

Later that evening...

"So, these two songs were specially requested by two very close friends of mine. Both are by the same band, Nightwish. First one is going to be Last Ride of the Day, and the second is Storytime." Yuuki explained the premise of her video as she put her earbuds into her ears. She was back under the bridge, and the setting sun gave off a lovely ambience for the area. "Cheers, you two." She winked at the camera as she started Last Ride of the Day.

After a brief break - which she would later edit out - she switched songs and sang Storytime with the same amount of intensity as she always sang with.

* * *

"So, Yuuki, I take it Motoko and Stella were pleased by your video?" Rize and Yuuki were relaxing in the living room after the internet lost their minds over her double song request, unable to identify the two mystery friends since she'd never been sighted with anyone other than her family, Jake or Sherry.

"Oh yeah, Stella was about to explode from excitement when she called me. Motoko was happy too." Yuuki replied, sliding the whetstone in her hand along the length of her knife with steady, slow strokes. She'd been neglecting to sharpen it recently, so she was finally taking the time to do it.

"So tell me, do you have any plans to sing in public... Like the school talent show next month?" Rize didn't even try to be subtle about her hint.

"Yeah, actually, I do." Yuuki looked at her mother with a small smirk. "But that's a good idea too, thanks."

Rize blinked for a moment, realizing that Yuuki had other plans to sing in public, not just the talent show.

"You remember that story we used to tell you, the one about your father, myself, your aunt and uncle doing four songs for the talent show of our last year of high school?" Rize adjusted her glasses for a moment as Yuuki nodded once. "If you want, we can help with your segment in the show. It's not like we've all abandoned our musical talents since then, you know."

"I'll see what I can come up with first, then I'll get back to you, okay?" Yuuki thought about it for a moment. She'd need to talk to the principal and her music teacher, at the very least.

"Make it quick, the talent show's in a month." Rize reminded her as she turned a page in her book.

* * *

"Hey, dad, I was wondering if you'd be able to help me with my act for the school talent show?" Yuuki spoke to her father while he checked some old looking rifle over in the garage. It wasn't one of his guns from the gun safe, so she assumed it was either someone else's or a newly acquired one for himself.

"Singing, I presume?" Tobias briefly looked over, but continued to work on the rifle.

"Yeah, and I know you still play guitar, and mom's gonna sing with me... I just... need help coming up with some ideas for songs and the act itself, like a dance or a speech." Yuuki sat on her nearby bike - which stood near Rize's car, off to one side while Tobias' pickup truck was in the driveway - while her father hummed in thought.

"Well... I'm not a dancer, that's for sure." He shook his head slightly. "But... I can sing too, so if you need me to, I will." He stopped working on the rifle, thinking hard. "First, let's hear the bands you have in mind."

"Nightwish, In This Moment, Disturbed, and..." Yuuki paused to think about the last song she had in mind for her segment. "Last one's a toss up right now, I haven't decided on it yet." She shrugged, then added. "I'm permitted five songs because of my high marks in Vocal Music and cause, y'know... I'm your kid."

"Hmmm... I've never heard of In This Moment, but I have heard of Nightwish and Disturbed. I can sing both." Tobias thought for a moment. "I'll need the specific songs, so I can put in some practice beforehand. For now, work out the songs you want, then we'll start practicing together, alright?"

Yuuki nodded and got off her bike, then decided to ask the question that's been nagging at her mind the whole time. "What gun is that?"

"Mosin Nagant, Model 91/30." Tobias smiled, picking the gun up and opening the bolt with obvious familiarity. "Russian rifle that's over a hundred and fifty years old now. This one's a rare survivor of the Second World War, I got it at the state gun show earlier this week."

"You planning to do something with it?" Yuuki knew about her dad's two jobs when he worked for Umbrella, and she also knew that he was the lead designer of the UT-2015 sniper rifle that was surprisingly still in service to this day. So for him to get a gun and sit in the garage with it wasn't exactly a foreign occurrence for her. Though he didn't _work_ as a weapon technician anymore, it was certainly more like a hobby for him at this point.

"I am indeed. It's an old gun, so I need to replace a few parts." Tobias smirked. "Real piece of history, this one."

"Mind if I try shooting it when you're finished with it?" Yuuki asked, oddly drawn to the wood and steel rifle that half of her heritage used for over a century. She really liked the design, and sometimes, a pistol like her USP just didn't cut it.

"Once I'm done, sure." Tobias put the rifle back down on his workbench. "Just like all of my other guns, I intend to name it. Might even engrave whatever I call it into the wood."

"I'll try and think of something." Yuuki left her father to his old hobby, returning to her laptop to try and consider which songs she was going to sing with her parents for the talent show.


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: Chapter's oddly familiar, wouldn't you agree? The five songs should be listened to in the order they're presented. Also... one was added as more of an afterthought. You'll know which one.**

* * *

The school auditorium was arranged with circular tables for all of the families that had been invited to be in the audience for their children. The Darkwoods - accompanied by Jake, the Kusanagi's, and Sherry's parents William and Annette Birkin - had two tables to themselves solely from their numbers.

For the most part, they politely applauded or quietly commented to each other about each act, until Tobias, Rize, and Yuuki left their seats and went out of the auditorium into the backstage area in preparation for their act, which was specially arranged with the faculty nearly two weeks beforehand.

Yuuki had the specially prepared outfit - courtesy of Auntie Sere's creative talents - already stashed in the changing room, so with some help from her mother, she got into the fantasy style dress and prepared the beautiful red cloak over her shoulders.

"I'll leave the hood off until we're going on stage." She took a deep breath to steady herself. "Are you two ready?"

"I am, I just need to hand off my guitar to the stagehands." Her father was wearing his usual sharp black suit and tie, and Yuuki was surprised to see that The Twins - which he always carried under his suit jacket - weren't on him. She couldn't see their usual print under his suit.

"I'm almost ready, 60 seconds." Rize was finishing up her makeup, having done Yuuki's beforehand. "Relax, Yuuki, you'll be fine." She herself had a very MILF-like outfit; a pencil skirt, button up blouse and black heels, plus her - very necessary - signature red framed glasses.

"Yuuki Darkwood?" A passing stagehand heard her name and paused at the now opened changing room door. "Your act is in two minutes, instruments are needed now."

Tobias stepped towards his stunning white coffin shaped guitar case, complete with his black skull emblazoned on the surface, and opened it with his Telekinesis, extracting his guitar from inside, then handed it over to the teenager.

"Rize?" Tobias asked as his case closed behind him, and she snapped her makeup kit closed right as he said her name.

"I'm good now, let's get to our places." Rize strode out with her husband and daughter as they took their places at their prepared setup behind the large red curtains while the act before them began to finish up. "Yuuki, your hood now."

She nodded as she elegantly draped the hood over her head, shrouding the top half of her face in a slight shadow. "Got it."

Applause broke out as the student finished their segment, then the student MC cleared her throat for attention.

"Now, for our last participant of the evening, we have the special privilege of a five piece vocal performance by Yuuki Darkwood, accompanied by her parents, Tobias and Rize."

The curtains separated, and the audience applauded and cheered loudly, and a few wolf whistles broke out upon catching sight of Yuuki's stunning dress.

"The five songs I have chosen for this piece bear a personal message and meaning to certain people in my life. Those that these songs pertain to will recognize them immediately." Yuuki spoke into the mic that she was standing at, then her father began to play the first song, **Ghost River** by **Nightwish**.

With Rize backing her up, and Tobias singing the male vocals, Yuuki sang the whole song to a roaring applause from the crowded auditorium. Her usual performance anxiety was gone, the applause felt really good! But, she kept her cloak's hood up until the guitar solo. As her father played the short solo, she slowly drew her hood back with practiced elegance, flawlessly timed for the return of the lead vocals.

That little action made the crowd cheer even more, and more whistles echoed shrilly as the song came to an end... But Tobias didn't stop. He smoothly transitioned into the next song, **Whore** by **In This Moment**.

During the slow intro, Yuuki kept her hands at the ready for the next part of the act. Once the vocals began, she started singing, but waited until the moment the song suddenly intensified before throwing her arm back and flawlessly discarding the cloak and fantasy dress' detached skirt behind her.

Beneath, which was very fitting to the song, was a tastefully sexy BDSM themed outfit with short black leather shorts, her belt of bullets, fishnet stockings, and her spiky skull high heeled boots. But it wouldn't be complete without the corset that hadn't been removed, denoting the creative genius that was Serenity Cora Avalise.

The crowd went wild when she did it, but she didn't stop singing to bask in the glory. She had her gaze locked on Holly Maillet, the short, very fat, stuck-up bitch that hadn't stopped giving her a hard time about nearly everything. Whore was for her specifically, after an argument they had in class that got very personal. And loud.

Holly's obviously forced applause at the end made Yuuki smirk victoriously as her dad went into the third song, **Karate** by **Babymetal**.

Yuuki and Rize had the original video's choreography memorized, so as they sang, they did the martial arts themed dance, which earned very enthusiastic cheers from Stella and Tabitha. Yuuki winked at them with a smile on her face, they knew it was for them.

The whole crowd was on their feet now, applauding the three Darkwoods as the song and dance ended to unrestrained enthusiasm.

"Next one's one that I know you've all heard before. Sing along, if you can, alright?" Yuuki spoke up with a huge smile on her face. The moment she sang the first few bars, everyone started singing along with her, cheering and applauding like crazy. It was **Daia No Hana** , the song that spurred her singing fame.

Yuuki had the crowd at their peak at the end of her iconic song, they would start exploding with excitement if she kept going with these songs, but now... It was message time.

"So, up until this point, those special people I've mentioned are all in attendance. But, this next song's for someone that was unable to make it tonight..." Yuuki explained, earning a collective 'Awwwwwww' from the crowd. "But, that doesn't mean they won't hear about it through the grapevine, now will they?"

The crowd cheered as Tobias used his Telekinesis to levitate a pair of cyan painted drumsticks to the drum kit behind them, and played the still iconic intro for **Down With The Sickness** by **Disturbed**.

Yuuki took almost three weeks to learn and master the song that she knew her father used in Raccoon City to taunt Wesker. But somehow, the crowd sensed the different emotions in the song, and they fell into a stunned silence.

Now it was her turn to use it.

As she finished, only one person clapped... Jake. He stood up and started laughing, he knew the message that was being sent to his dad.

"To the absent person..." Yuuki spotted quite a few cameras recording the entire performance. "Make your move."

There was a few moments of silence, then someone at the back shouted. " _Encore_!"

Yuuki froze upon catching the sound. They'd only planned the five songs, they didn't have an encore prepared.

The crowd quickly started chanting the word, and she glanced at her parents, unsure about what to do.

"We found that list of songs you've been recording. We both secretly learned them, just in case this happened." Rize quickly leaned close to Yuuki's ear and spoke in Japanese while covering Yuuki's mic with her hand. "You choose one we haven't done, and just do your best."

" **Get Jinxed.** " Yuuki made the snap decision, well aware it was just _being thrown in without a plan_ , then turned to her father, who nodded once as Rize returned to her place. "Alright, alright, one more song, then that's it. Lets see how many of you remember this little gem..." She calmed the crowd by holding up her hands before her dad began to play the theme song of their collectively favourite character from the twenty five year old game **League of Legends**.

They did.


	34. Chapter 34

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!" Wesker was furious. For almost a month, up until the video of the three Darkwood's concert, he'd been under the impression that Yuuki was dead. The C-Virus should've killed her T-Cells and taken over her body.

"Sir, with all due respect, we both saw her go down when the dart hit her." Jack Krauser, Wesker's current second-in-command, had his arms crossed and a frown on his face that curved his scars inward. "Right in the back, didn't even take her half a second to hit the floor." He was the one that fired the dart.

"That was my trump card, Jack, I don't have anything else to take them down!" Wesker spun on his heel to snarl at the muscular mercenary. "You and I both know a direct assault on the family would cost us more than we'd ever dream to achieve from it."

"Then we keep thinking, isn't that your specialty?" Jack narrowed his eyes. "Using your son got her to listen the first time, why not try again with another, more secure plan?"

" _Silence_." Wesker was scowling angrily. "You do, I think. What part of that isn't crystal clear?"

"The part where I get the job done."

Both of them turned towards the door of Wesker's office, revealing the ever present red-lenses gas mask of HUNK.

"HUNK, I wasn't informed you would be arriving... At all." Wesker regained his cool, facing the one human he knew was capable of going head-to-head with B.O.W's _and_ Ghouls, and somehow manage to come out unscathed... Every single time.

"I didn't announce it, Chairman." HUNK stepped inside and closed the door behind himself, his old M4a1 from Umbrella was hanging by his side from the strap. "So, I'll get straight to the point: I've been informed of your organization, and owe you my allegiance. So, to prove myself, I'll work on getting Darkwood's kid." HUNK turned his head very pointedly towards Jack. " _Alone._ "

"I've heard about you, Mr. Death." Jack didn't even sound angry. "So I expect you to live up to your reputation."

"HUNK, you seem to know your orders already, so get whatever you need from aboard the ship and head to Los Angeles." Wesker was hiding his satisfaction well. HUNK was - in a way - a perfect combination of himself and Tobias, an independent, highly trained soldier that excelled at not only leading a team, but also solo missions. "I'd wish you luck, but I know you don't need it."

"Actually, this is _Darkwood_ we're talking about, Chairman... I'd appreciate the good fortune." HUNK didn't even wait for a reply as he turned and left, bringing his rifle up to his chest as he went.

"Way to kill the mood, Mr. Death..." Jack scowled, muttering to himself.

* * *

 _BANG!_

The recoil of the rifle kicked right back into Yuuki's shoulder as she grasped the modified bolt with her right hand and lifted it up and backwards to eject the spent casing.

Reversing the movement, she chambered a new round and returned her hand to the trigger, firing as her lungs emptied of oxygen.

Tobias was standing behind her with a pleased smile on his face. The Mosin Nagant he'd restored, customized and directly modified parts of was performing beautifully.

Originally, the 91/30 model was nearly four feet long, but that length wasn't the problem he had with it. He had problems with the bolt, the internal box magazine, and the original barrel was rusted a bit too much for his liking.

So, in his spare time for the month leading up to Yuuki's school talent show, he'd gotten the rifle first into firing condition, then spent a bit of money on upgrading just about all of the normal steel into the much more durable - and better looking - Quinque Steel. The barrel, which couldn't be Quinque Steel - nearly all ammunition used worldwide was Q-Bullets. Lead and copper rounds had all but lost their foothold after the BSAA came into existence, thanks to himself - was lined with chrome and Titanium to extend the lifespan between repairs and reduce rusting.

The wooden body of the rifle was in good condition, but Tobias had it replaced with fresh, strong ebony, which gave the deeper black of the Quinque Steel a rather nice tone to match. The irony of his family surname, Darkwood, wasn't lost on him regarding his choice. He did it intentionally.

Lastly, the notorious 90 degree turn required to open the chamber wasn't something he liked, so after several days of designing it, he'd created a new, custom bolt assembly that only needed to be turned 45 degrees to open the chamber and eject the spend casing sideways, rather than upward at a high angle. It also had a casing deflector, to send the empty shell slightly forward as well.

Last to adorn the rifle were a new military grade shoulder strap, a stock mounted leather ammo pouch with an integrated cheek rest, a threading on the end of the barrel for a suppressor, a bayonet mount - designed for his, Yuuki's and Rize's respective knives to be locked in place without issues - and last but not least... a very good scope.

"Did you ever tell mom how much you spent on this gun?" Yuuki asked as she fired the last round, bringing Tobias back from his thoughts as she took a loaded stripper clip from the shooting range's bench and reloaded the rifle with ease. Thanks to Tobias' tutorial earlier, the process was almost second nature for her by now. She really liked the rifle, a lot more than she'd expected.

"She knows. I spent eight thousand in all, not including the ammo." Tobias felt no remorse in revealing the number. "Mosin's were originally chambered in 7.62x54R rounds, but after I brought Q-Bullets to the world over, I had to have someone rechamber the gun into .308, which you know the dimension of since you have a whole belt of them."

"Still just as good, right?" Yuuki commented as she closed the bolt and shouldered the rifle again.

"Just about, yeah." Tobias didn't bother with the different numbers generated by the different rounds. "So... I still haven't named it, do you have any suggestions yet?"

"It'd probably be best to give it a meaningful name, right?" Yuuki asked as she fired at the steel target again and worked the bolt's super smooth action.

"Most of my guns are." Tobias nodded. "Except for The Twins, and Silence, which I didn't name. Alice did, since it was hers before mine."

"We'll figure something out... Eventually." Yuuki flicked her hair away from her eye as she fired the last round and grabbed the last stripper clip on the table. "You want to do the last clip?"

"If you want me to, sure." Tobias had already tested - and was satisfied by - firing the rifle before her. It had a 2.5 MOA at 100 yards... when fired by the human gunsmith that did the rechambering for him. He himself had a 0.75 MOA at five hundred yards without the scope mounted. With the scope, it was the exact same impact point on the steel target, which was less than 0.05 MOA. For obvious reasons, he was in the Guiness Book Of World Records for his shooting accuracy. Which - though highly debated since he was also famous for being the fourth of seven highly superior T-Ghouls - was entirely from skill, practice and patience.

"Actually... Fuck it, I'll finish it off. I know you'll force yourself to miss just for my sake." Yuuki chambered the first round and fired as Tobias laughed.

"I never miss, you have the proof hanging around your neck." Tobias smirked. "Only problem was my target survived... _Twice_."


	35. Chapter 35

Yuuki wasn't exactly impressed by her latest Vocal Music assignment, but at the same time, she understood what her teacher was trying - and failing - to do.

She had to sing a duet with Holly Maillet, the girl that hated her for seemingly no good reason. Even worse, they had to agree on a song, and their different tastes in music were already well established.

To be fair, the whole class had been given the same assignment, but had the freedom to choose their partner, unlike her and Holly. They'd been directly assigned together, non-negotiable.

"In case you haven't noticed, Darkwood, I don't like your music!" Holly snapped at Yuuki, who was scrolling through her laptop's well stocked collection of music - ranging from the 1990's to 2020, the general period where her music of choice was released and popular - to find something that would at least appease the tub of lard sitting beside her.

"The feeling's mutual." Yuuki replied, sounding bored of the constant reminder, which she was. "I don't like rap, or pop, and I certainly hate those fucking boybands you're always drooling over. The least you could do is try to offer a decent suggestion instead of moaning and nattering like an old bitchy woman."

"Language, Miss Darkwood..." The teacher passed them with a singsong, but warning tone.

"Here's a suggestion!" Holly wasn't hard to read, Yuuki knew she was about to try and mock her... 'Try' being the key word. "How about you get better music, and we can sing like nice little girls!"

"Or..." Yuuki reached the end of her music collection and closed her laptop's screen. "I could be the bitch that I am, sing like a badass, and throw you on a treadmill and dangle food on a string in front of your nose to make you run. Sound good, Holly?" Yuuki effortlessly countered Holly's feeble attempt at insulting her, and she didn't even need to pull any of her family's infamous intimidation either.

"Fuck you." Holly snarled, but Yuuki laughed.

"I'd definitely fuck me, thanks for asking." Yuuki was on a roll, but everyone was either listening or directly watching them fight at this point. It wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence. "Holly, grow the fuck up. Insulting me gets you no where, not to mention that I don't need to insult you back, you do it all by yourself. I don't like that we're paired any more than you do, so suck it up, buttercup, pick a fucking song that we both can agree on, and we can get this shit done quicker!"

"WHY WOULD I BOTHER SINGING A DUET WITH A MONSTER LIKE YOU?!" Holly suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs, which once again made Yuuki laugh.

At first, it was a low chuckle in her throat, rising and growing louder until she was just about belly laughing... Only to suddenly stop and nearly explode with an aura of that signature Darkwood menace.

"A monster is an employer who fires a desperate part-time worker for no reason. A monster is someone who refuses to acknowledge the fault in their actions. A monster is an executive that betrays and experiments on the employees of his Corporation to make a quick profit... A monster is someone who is so self-centered and closed-minded that they can't tell when someone else is suffering the same shitty hand of cards as themselves." Yuuki was calm, cold, and quiet. Just like everyone else in the room, frozen with fear as she kept bearing down on Holly - who was shorter than Mishka, by several inches - from her full height. "Holly, I'm not a monster... You are."

"You eat people! You're the monster, Darkwood!" Holly somehow had the stupidity to keep arguing, so Yuuki took a step forward and effortlessly shut her down.

"I'm not denying my diet is carnivorous." Yuuki was briefly amused, but quickly went back to lethally serious. "But that doesn't mean I'm feral, nor do I just attack the first human I come across either. Y'wanna know what I do when I go out and eat someone? I go find a place where I sense despair. Places like that generally have people that don't contribute to society in a positive manner, such as deadbeats, the homeless, or thugs in street gangs."

Everyone was shocked to hear the inner workings of Yuuki's mind. Sure, they knew she wasn't human, but they only knew that. She was a T-Ghoul, nothing more.

"Sometimes, people in these deadened places recognize Ghouls, and being famous, I tend to get noticed a bit more than the average prowling Ghoul." Yuuki tilted her head to the side. "They approach me and beg me to kill them, offering themselves without even a hint of hesitation."

"What the fuck does that mean?!" Holly was momentarily disgusted by the idea, but Yuuki continued.

"Suicide can really fuck with someone's head, so..." Yuuki paused briefly to smirk at Holly. "Instead of attacking them right then and there like a savage beast, I sit somewhere with them and try to talk them out of their suicide, and more than you'd think, I get them to the help they need, in exchange for their promise to secrecy. I have gone without eating so many times that I've lost count a long time ago... just to save the life of someone begging for me to kill them."

Holly was stunned back into silence, her jaw having dropped long ago.

"So tell me again how I'm the monster? I actually put back more into society than I take away from it, more than you're even aware about, Holly. That's just the tip of the iceberg, I do things even behind my parent's backs just to make sure I'm still a better person. I know I'm not a fucking human, you dumbass! But that doesn't mean I'm a monster! You want a monster, looking in a fucking mirror would be a good place to start, you piece of shit! Open your eyes _before_ you open your mouth, it might save you from getting your ass kicked."

The class broke into applause at her powerful speech, and the teacher tapped her on her shoulder from behind.

"I'll pardon you for the excessive language... this time. You two can do your songs separately, I think it's clear you've made your point, Miss Darkwood. I expect an excellent performance from you, one that matches the fiery speech you just gave."

"Even if you were at the end of your rope with no chance at getting proper help, Holly... If you came up to me and begged me to eat you, I'd leave you to rot. You don't deserve a quick death, under any circumstances." Yuuki spoke in a low voice before grabbing her backpack and shoving her laptop inside, leaving the classroom just as Holly finally proved how immature she really was by beginning to cry.

"Delete the video, she's already in a bad mood... Don't make it a dangerous one." The teacher almost immediately noticed a student had their phone positioned in a sneaky way with the camera lens exposed.

Not once in over thirty years of teaching had she ever seen a student obey an order quicker than that exact moment. They all knew that Yuuki earned her reputation for violence for a legitimate reason.

And now they knew why.

* * *

On the day of their duet - and the two single - performances, Holly scowled at Yuuki before stating. "I don't like you, so I won't apologize."

"Bitch, I couldn't care less that you don't like me, honestly, not tolerating me either doesn't bother me..." Yuuki had her hands on her hips with her back turned. "But you will _respect_ me, and that is final."

"Fuck you." Holly couldn't form an intelligent comeback, so she scowled and walked away - from Yuuki's towering 6'2" height, she didn't walk, she waddled like a penguin - leaving the auditorium for a few minutes, but returned in time to give her solo performance, which Yuuki didn't even bother listening to the name of, let along hear her sing.

After a few other pairs, Yuuki took one one long, hard stare at Holly in the middle of her seated classmates before speaking into the mic. "All prior things aside, I've chosen to sing something different than I usually do."

With a nod at the student manning the audio system, she got into her singing mode as her chosen song began to play: Monster, by Disturbed.

As she finished, she winked at Holly and spoke into the mic in Russian. "Poshel na khuy, Holly." **(Poshel na khuy = Fuck you)**

With that, she walked off the stage, mentally knocking over Holly's king piece in their figurative chess game.

Checkmate, bitch.


	36. Chapter 36

Yuuki heaved a sigh, staring out the window at the rainstorm that was putting everyone into miserable moods. She wasn't bothered by it - Hydrokinesis for the most part, but in general the rain didn't affect her mood - she was just getting sick of waiting for class to end so she could go home for the weekend, which was extended by the last PA day of the school year. After this week, preparations for exams would begin, which were six weeks away.

"Fuck, this semester's gone by fast..." Yuuki commented to herself in Japanese, but her teacher heard her, thinking she was commenting on the lesson.

"Miss Darkwood, in English please?" Her cooking teacher was a lovely older woman, easily in her fifties, but she didn't have the language knowledge to translate Yuuki's occasional linguistic switches.

"I was thinking out loud about how the semester's gone by so quickly." Yuuki didn't even look away from the window. "Still feels like late-March to me."

"How about focusing on the lesson instead of getting yourself into a daydream?" By no means was her teacher's sassy comment wrong, so Yuuki smirked and turned her head back to the cake the class was learning to prepare.

* * *

"Any ideas for what we're gonna do this weekend? Rain's supposed to stop on Saturday." Jake asked, wiping his hands after he'd finished Yuuki's cake. He was rather surprised at her baking skills, but then again, it was almost the end of the school year, so she'd been cooking for a few months now.

"Can't do a video with the bridge flooded by the rain, my parents cancelled Darkwood for the weekend for their two business trips, and Sherry's spending the weekend with her parents on that camping trip she told us about." Yuuki was laying on her back on her bed, very well aware of the way she was laying was giving Jake a perfect view down her cleavage. She didn't care, she was too bored.

With the size of her family, the camera crews, Jake, Sherry, the Kusanagi's, and the occasional acquaintances, the house was rarely without at least some form of activity or means of distraction... But not this weekend. She was literally home along for the whole weekend, all the way up to Monday morning for school. Her parents would return by noon, but that was beside the point.

Jake was the first person she'd called, knowing she'd lose her mind if she was stuck in a silent house for almost four days by herself. Sadly, Motoko and Stella were still working on their angle of the Neo-Umbrella case, something about a new piece of intel they'd come across, so the two cyborgs were likewise out of the question... and the country.

"What business trips?" Jake asked, since that detail was new to him.

"Mom's finished her new book, so she's over in DC doing a talk show thing about it. Dad's got some politics to sort out, something about the BSAA's budget for their arsenal." Yuuki shrugged, neither were really her concern. Her dad made sure to leave out the Mosin and a few boxes of ammo - for it and her USP - as a precaution before they'd left earlier. The sexy black bolt action rifle was leaning nearby, and of course her pistol was within easy access in her holster bag.

"I forgot that your mom's an author..." Jake sighed contently. "Cake was really good, well done."

"Better than the cookies last week?" Yuuki rolled onto her stomach, linking her ankles as she raised her feet. She also pushed herself up with her forearms, still giving Jake a glorious titshot.

"Hard to say." Jake thought about it, but couldn't really figure out which was better. "I know I shouldn't be asking, but what happens when you try to eat human food?" Jake suddenly leaned forward, very curious since - despite his time surrounded by the Darkwoods - he had never seen them eat food except human flesh, nor drink anything that wasn't coffee or water.

"I haven't tried it myself..." Yuuki admitted. "But from what I've been told, my body would just reject it and I'd puke it out. If I do manage to somehow keep it down, I'd have to forcibly trigger my gag reflex to get it out, otherwise I'd get sick... Bad enough to physically hurt the whole time." Yuuki added the last part when she saw Jake's question rising through his expression.

"Except for the trifecta, right?" Jake was of course referring to coffee, water and human flesh.

"Yeah..." Yuuki pondered something for a moment. "Well... maybe something else..." Her sudden shift in thought easily caught Jake's attention, so he narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"What is this 'something else' you're thinking about?"

Yuuki's cheeks started to turn pink and she turned her head slightly to the side to hide it. "I just... had a thought that made me realize something."

"What is it, Yuuki?" Jake could see she was thinking about something separate from her dietary restrictions, but he had no hint as to what it was.

"I know it sounds stupid..." Yuuki was choosing her words very carefully. "I just thought that... We've never tried..." She paused, realizing she'd messed up her words, but then just rolled with it. "Oral."

"You mean the two of us, right?" Jake figured it out now. Even when she's trying to be subtle, her direct nature still managed to shine through. She nodded, and Jake smiled at her. "To be fair, it's rather one-sided. Well, except for 69, but that's boring in my opinion."

"Fair point, but it's not exactly an invalid theory, if you think about it..." Yuuki wasn't being pushy, nor was she pouncing on him either. Jake knew that it was because it was something new to her, let alone the fact it was a biological experiment on top of being a new sexual experience. "I've had no problems with Sherry... or Stella..." Yuuki was still in theory mode, thinking back to all of her lesbian sex to remember having any issues with taste or puking. "And obviously you and me hasn't happened in this context either, so it seems like a valid idea... It's just..."

"You're not horny enough to bother trying." Jake concluded, slowly nodding. "I can tell, trust me."

"Yeah, you're right." Yuuki sighed, well aware of the fact she wasn't in the mood. "Fuckin' sucks too, since we're alone here, all weekend."

"You don't have to rush this, y'know." Jake smirked. "Besides, I've seen first hand when you're horny... And not just towards me." He was well aware of his non-regenerative status, but he'd seen - and even heard - Yuuki handle Sherry far more roughly than she did with him... Even though she was still rather forceful with him. Perks were different, even if the results were the same.

"I know." Yuuki wasn't ashamed to admit it was true. "Funny thing about regeneration... Makes rough sex less about 'that hurt too much' and more of 'hit me again baby!'" Yuuki mockingly imitated a breathy voice, like someone enjoying that very thing. "You're just mad that you're fragile compared to me and Sherry."

"Not really." Jake shook his head. "I'm not exactly keen on getting any of those crazy bioweapons in me, thank you very much."

"My dad told me about an incident he'd had with your dad before everything went straight to hell..." Yuuki suddenly remembered the passing comment from several weeks earlier. "He said your dad's got some sort of minor regeneration thing since he's a manufactured human. Maybe you inherited that power?"

"So you're saying I'd be able to regenerate?" Jake wasn't sure what she meant by this.

"Your dad healed in about an hour after my dad beat him with Fenrir and bent the barrel." Yuuki shrugged. "If you do have it, it's certainly weaker than a normal Ghoul, but way better than being human."

"Well, I'm not exactly willing to let your dad beat me up..." Jake replied with a cheeky smirk, but Yuuki shook her head.

"I know an easier way, and no, it's not a big deal." Yuuki retrieved her knife from her back and held it out to him by the blade. "Scratch yourself with this. If I'm right, you'll heal in a few minutes, at the most."

"Fuck it, not like it'll kill me or anything." Jake took the knife and inflicted a small cut onto the back of his hand, drawing blood of course. They both waited until the bleeding seemed to stop, so Jake used his other hand to wipe what was leftover away, revealing a sealed pink scar that eventually turned white, then shrank into untouched skin. "Well... son of a bitch, I can regenerate after all."

Returning his gaze to Yuuki, he realized too late that she was licking her lips with a very hungry expression on her face. She was about to pounce on him.

"Hey, hey, hey!" He held up both hands, one of which still had two fingers curled around the grip of her knife. "Let me put the knife down before you even think about jumping on me!"

"Just toss it somewhere. I'm not patient, and you know that..." Yuuki wasn't immediately aware of it, but something about the scent of Jake's blood was getting her very aroused. Add in the fact he wasn't as fragile as she'd come to assume, and she wasn't going to wait for such a petty reason.

The knife hadn't even touched the floor when Yuuki got her hands onto his shirt and shredded it with her claws. When it did, however, she'd already pulled him backwards with her, dragging him over her on the bed as her Kakugan formed from her rising excitement.

"Only the two this time?" Jake smirked as he watched the red veins extend into the flesh around her eyes.

"I'll tell you about that... later. Right now, you have a certain something that I want to try." Yuuki dismissed the question, raising her knee to rub between Jake's legs to further her point. "But I'll let you handle our clothing... This time."

"Good thing I stashed a spare shirt last time I was here." Jake chuckled as he kissed Yuuki's ear. "I might be able to regenerate, but you have a habit of destroying my shirts."

"Your fault for getting my tattoo on your chest." Yuuki quipped back, humming as she felt Jake's hand slide under her back and begin popping the hook & eye clasps of her corset open. He'd done it before, so she didn't need to worry about him messing up. His other hand was lovingly caressing the back of her thigh, and she really liked the sensation.

"I regret nothing." Jake smiled as he started kissing down the side of her neck, pointedly avoiding the small - sealed - slits under her jawline where her gills were hidden. By the time he reached her collarbone, her corset was finished, so she tossed it aside with one hand, her tits free to rise and fall in time with her panting.

"You can't pull that crazy acrobatic trick this time, so ditch the belts." Jake gently licked her shoulder, his hand under her back randomly caressing her flesh. "Three's a bit excessive anyway."

It was true. She had her studded leather belt through her pants belt loops, her bullet belt hanging loosely over top of her holster bag's larger strap to form a slight X that was centered with her steel spider belt buckle.

"Mmmm, getting bossy since you're on top?" Yuuki purred as she made quick work of the buckles holding her three belts in place, plus the strap around her leg for her bag. "You may have the dick, but you better not turn into a dick with me... I just might fight back."

"That sounds like fun." Jake took the neutral comment from what passed through his head, pulling her hips up form the bed with one hand while the other tossed her bullets and holster bag aside. While he did that, she pulled the studded belt through the belt loops and tossed it over his back.

Yuuki opted not to reply to his taunt, instead she did the honours and pulled her pants down as far as she could, leaving Jake to pull them the rest of the way and drop them to the floor.

"Next time you wear shorts." Jake teased as he likewise ditched his pants. "It's such a rarity too, makes it so much sexier."

"I'll think about it." Yuuki replied coyly as she grabbed the back of Jake's head with one hand. "It's not important right now. We both still have clothes on, remember?"

"You mean me?" Jake held up Yuuki's panties. He'd seen that they were bikini style with strings on her hips, so she forgot to check where his hands were. "Whoops, did I do that?"

Yuuki was impressed, but at the same time, she was annoyed at herself for the mistake. She quickly swatted them out of his hand and grabbed the front of his boxers with the same motion.

"I should rip these apart because of that..." Yuuki smirked. "But I won't. Take them off, and I'll take the reins back."

Jake nodded, then obeyed her command once she released the back of his head. The second his erection was freed, he was suddenly flat on his back on her bed. Whatever maneuver she'd just used was lost to him, but it certainly wasn't one he'd seen before.

"Mmm, _mine!_ " Yuuki didn't straddle him. Instead, she crawled over him with a sly grin on her face, her red and black gaze was locked on his rigid dick, and Jake spotted the tip of her fangs in that grin.

"I would warning about biting... But it's pointless since you're a Ghoul and you seem to know what you're doing."

"Scared of a little pain?" Yuuki stopped as her head loomed over his groin, her body low and cat-like with her ass higher than her shoulders. She grasped the base of his shaft in one hand, pointedly squeezing hard enough to get his attention.

"Pain? Not really. Your fangs? Definitely." Jake wasn't ashamed in admitting the fact. Her fangs were long enough to be worrisome, and certainly sharp enough to hesitate.

"Oh, you big baby. You'll regenerate..." Yuuki licked the length of the underside of his shaft with the flat of her tongue before adding. "Eventually."

"You make that sound more sinister than it should be." Jake lifted himself up with his forearms, which attractively tensed his abs into a six pack.

"I don't know how fast yours is, so for me to say that isn't exactly wrong, y'know." Yuuki used her other hand to tuck the longer part of her asymmetrical haircut behind her ear. She gave his shaft a few more experimental licks before looking up at him and opening her spider eyes with a lot of concentration to prevent her Kakuja from exploding out her back. "Back to the task... at hand." She gave his shaft another squeeze as she altered her grip to just her thumb and index at the base.

With that, she pressed her lips to the top of his cockhead, pushing it into her mouth just enough to separate her lips and lightly lick the small, sensitive little spot just below the urethra.

With six eyes, she had the advantage of being able to watch Jake's face, his body - in general - and his groin for reactions to her minstrations. At the same time. That, and she knew he liked her ability to see so many things at once, even if he didn't admit it.

"So, which eyes should I be gazing into again?" Jake seemed to know why she was optically multitasking, so he jokingly asked the question as Yuuki withdrew her mouth from taste-testing the head of his dick.

"I have six, it doesn't matter to me which you choose to look at." Yuuki cheekily winked her three left eyes at the same time. As she spoke, the air from her speaking was aimed right at his dick - she'd only lifted her mouth about an inch away - and that made it twitch in response to the warm air.

"Options." Jake nodded his head with a smile. "I like that." He added jokingly as she licked the underside of his shaft before finally going forward and taking the first two or so inches into her mouth.

Both of them froze with tension. Jake felt the initial light grazing from her teeth - they had a deceptive sharpness to them, despite being human looking - and he instinctively tensed in preparation for her to bite... But she managed to tuck them away with the inside of her lips before she herself totally stopped.

For her, she wasn't scared or anything, it was just a sensory overload the instant she'd taken it in her mouth and protectively shielded her sharp teeth with her lips. Until that moment, she'd somehow managed to ignore the lovely scent of their respective pheromones, but it wasn't an option anymore. Her unoccupied hand began shaking as she deeply inhaled through her nose, topping off her tanks with Jake's lovely mixture of scents - his sweat, arousal, pheromones and the lingering trace of his intoxicating blood - before extending her awaiting tongue and licking every little nook and cranny she could find.

As she did so, her empty hand went to her boob, groping herself to keep the shaking to a minimum. She knew she'd switch to masturbating at some point, but right now, that was all she needed to do with her free hand.

"Having fun, I see." Jake managed to find his voice, and Yuuki winked one of the two eyes he was staring into to acknowledge the comment. She was indeed enjoying it, the olfactory and gustatory bombardment combined with the tactile from her groping was working wonders on her brain. Not enough to make her go retarded from lust, but certainly enough to enjoy what she was doing and proceed further.

"God damn, that was good." Yuuki briefly withdrew him from her mouth to collect herself. "Enhanced senses make this so much more enjoyable than I thought it'd be."

"Then by all means, enjoy. I certainly am." Jake had an excellent view of her ass and tits, plus her tensing back muscles made the spider webs of her tattoo ripple and move hypnotically. Plus she had him in her mouth, and that was amazing by itself.

"That sounded very perverted..." Yuuki didn't elaborate on her comment, taking him into her mouth again and slowly sinking further down his length, exploring more and more with the tip of her tongue, learning his specific weak spots. About halfway down, she paused, knowing that going further would take some focused concentration. Oral was very differently scaled with a guy compared to with another girl. She had to remind herself of that fact - just once - before sliding her head back up, but not letting it out of her mouth this time.

Now she was done talking. Time to really get things going.

Once she got her rhythm going, she took her time in teasing the weak spots that made Jake react using her tongue and lips. Sure, it wasn't instant nutbusting in technique, but she figured out what he liked so far. Might as well do it.

"Damn, that's good. Keep going..." Jake reflexively tensed as Yuuki tongue-teased him again without pause. She had all the advantages she needed, now it was her time to shine. It felt amazing, for sure, and he knew she would get better and better with practice.

Yuuki liked the encouragement, so she decided that inching forward would be the next course of action she'd take. He wasn't big, nor small, in fact, she found his size to be perfect. She wasn't a size queen after all, and the fact he had the very surprising amount of sexual stamina he did just made it all the more perfect for her. Jake was literally perfect for her, in all context... Well, except for one. He was a smartass, and she couldn't really do anything about that part.

Yuuki carefully pushed her head as far as she could, feeling her throat react to the intrusion. She didn't gag, but she did stop, knowing that this was her current limit. The tip of her nose was quivering barely a millimeter away from the skin of her finger, so just for a personal whim, she wanted to be able to do just that. With a groan from Jake for doing it, she pushed herself just that tiny bit further and succeeded.

"Don't hurt yourself now..." Jake joked as she quickly withdrew entirely with a gasp for breath.

"I'm fine, just testing my limits..." Yuuki stroked her fingers up the lower few inches of his shaft before returning to her blowjob. "Mmmmm..." She moaned happily as she got another full dose of the sensory overload to her nose and tongue.

Jake's dick throbbed from the vibrations, and Yuuki's main eyes crinkled with an amused smile from the reaction.

"Please... don't tor..." Jake knew she was about to do it, and of course, his request was cut short with a groan as she began to hum the tune of Get Jinxed with his length still in her mouth. "Mmph... Should've known you'd do it..." He gritted his teeth, trying not to immediately blow his load because of the very odd, but very nice sensation of her humming.

Yuuki winked one of her main eyes as she took him as deeply as she was able - making sure to have her nose touch her finger in the process - but instead of immediately pulling back, she held herself there to have her throat muscles stimulate the head of Jake's dick for a few seconds before pulling back just enough to suck in some much needed air and continue sucking him off.

Jake hadn't noticed it, but Yuuki's groping had already stopped on her tit. Now, her hand was between her raised legs, lovingly fingering herself with the occasional cute little cooing sound or moan.

Yuuki was ruthlessly targeting his little weak spots along the entire length of his shaft with her tongue both on the way down and back up. After a few intense repetitions - with two or three drawn out deepthroats - of this torment, she felt his entire dick give that tell tale throb she'd been waiting for.

She felt his balls clench upwards beneath her hand gripping the base and willingly paused with his cockhead still tightly trapped in her lips. Her tongue was already in position to receive his jizz, and the first burst landed right where she wanted it.

All of her eyes seemed to roll back into her head as her mouth was filled with his release, and her throaty, drawn out sigh sent vibrations right up his length, earning one last little throb and squirt onto her tongue before she withdrew completely and swallowed the whole thing. Only a tiny drop managed to escape out the side of her lip, which her tongue immediately darted out to capture before it managed to reach her chin.

Neither said anything for a few long seconds. The only sound was the rain pattering on the glass doors to her balcony behind her closed curtains. Then she brought herself up vertically, still on her knees from her cat-like pose with one finger of her now unoccupied hand tracing the edge of her smiling lips. She still hadn't stopped her pistoning hand between her lower lips.

Jake watched the seductive little movement at her mouth until she brought all six of her eyes to bear on him, still smiling as she broke the silence.

"I want _more_."


	37. Chapter 37

Several men snuck into the yard of the decently sized home, none of the windows had lights on, and no vehicles were in the driveway. One checked inside the window of the garage door, but didn't see any others inside. He turned to the group's leader and whispered. "No cars, and there's no door into the house from in here either. It's pretty empty in there too."

"Alright, you and the new guy go check around the back. Me and the others will try the front door. Meet back here if you find a way inside." He whispered back, separating with the assigned group to the front door. "Pickin' time." He muttered to himself as he crouched at the front lock with his trusty little set of picks.

It took him a little bit of time, but when his two scouts returned unsuccessful from the back, he had managed to succeed just as they announced the failure.

"We're good, alright, everyone inside, and keep it quiet." The leader kissed his pick set like he always did after opening a lock and slowly opened the door, which didn't creak or make any noises.

Once the gang was inside, they checked the nearby closet for discarded footwear, but there wasn't anything on the floor. The neatly arranged rows of a few male and numerous female footwear were flawless, but at least four pairs seemed to be missing.

"Split into pairs, check the first floor. You and me will check the basement." The leader pointed two fingers at the pairings, then tapped an index finger to his lips. "Hand signs now."

With nods, then six men split up and went about in clearing the main floor while he and his partner located the basement stairs and went down. It was darker than the main floor, but it had some windows to provide a bit of moonlight, so they didn't need flashlights. After confirming the basement was empty, the leader gave the practiced hand signs to tell his partner to return upstairs with him.

Floor clear, confirm?

The waiting man's hand signs when they returned to the first floor were quick and practiced, like a deaf person using sign language.

Confirmed. Regroup at entry.

He snuck off to pass the message to the other three men, and they returned to the foyer and continued their - now silent - conversation as a collective.

Upstairs, I'll check solo, wait for all clear signal before looting. Stay here.

The leader was the most skilled at staying stealthy, plus he was the the best at lock-picking, so the five men gave the 'agreed' sign as he turned to the main staircase and expertly ascended to the top floor.

Several rooms had the doors left partially open, and none showed any signs of life. Only two had the doors closed, one was a small closet for the nearby bathroom, and the other... was clearly a female teenager's bedroom.

Scanning the slightly messy room, he spotted a few noteworthy loot items, but as his gaze swept the room, he noticed an item that at first glance felt natural, but when he took a proper moment to look at it, he realized it was out of place.

It was a box of pistol bullets, partially opened and likely half full too. It was pushed to the side of the girl's desk, but had the air that it was what she'd been doing before leaving for the weekend with her family.

With the knowledge of firearms, he checked the room again, but didn't disturb anything as he checked for a likely place the gun would be stored.

He didn't see one, so he left the girl's room and entered the last room, the master bedroom, and his eyes widened with glee...

A large safe was in the corner, easily five feet tall and about three feet wide.

But, like the rest of the house, it was empty in here too. So he returned to the top of the staircase and spoke aloud.

"Clear, we're alone. Alright, we got nothing in the basement, you two check the main floor, the rest of you, up here. Got some good stuff in the bedrooms."

The team of thieves set about to their tasks of combing the house. Unlike street thugs, they respected the household and didn't trash everything.

Upstairs, the leader directed one guy to the teen's room. "Looks like daddy gave his girl a gun, see if you can find it. Check for a purse or a box or something. You help him. I've got a safe in the master bedroom to crack open."

The pair went inside and began to - still respectfully - comb the room for loot. The leader and the remaining rookie of the group went to the master bedroom and set to work on the safe.

"Team check!" After five minutes the leader gave the systematic call out, and received two 'confirm' replies from the other two pairs. He was still busy with the tumblers of the safe, which was giving him a surprising amount of defiance.

Every five minutes, the same Marco Polo-like process continued until on the latest check, he only got one return call.

"Go check on them, might not have heard me." He didn't even turn to the rookie, who turned and left. "First one's definitely 39..." He commented to himself as he got the first part of the combination. "C'mon, c'mon... yes! 39-42... what's the magic number baby? C'mon, tell Hector your secret, baby..."

As he listened to the tumblers through the steel, he realized it was time for another check. "Team check!" He called out, and only got the one reply from the pair in the girl's room. "The hell are those three doing down there?" He frowned, but figured the rookie hadn't found them yet, so they were likely in the basement.

Ticking through the numbers with excruciating slowness, he reached the sixties before calling again, and got another solo callout. "Fuckin' idiots went outside, should've known." He hadn't figured that they'd just take the loot to their van down the street, so he shrugged slightly and crept the dial into the seventies.

Running out of digits, he was just into the nineties when he called another team check... but got no reply as the tumbler clicked the lock open on 95.

Opening the safe, he was preparing the angry speech for their mistakes, but inside wasn't what he'd been expecting.

"Shit!" He read the note taped to the inside of the door and turned to run out of the room, making it to the top of the stairs before he slid to a stop in terror.

"Good, you got my message. Nice team synergy by the way. The last thieves that tried to do this were total amateurs." Yuuki smirked from behind the Mosin's scope, which was aimed the man's chest.

"W-w-what the f-fuck are you?!" The leader wasn't able to move, no matter how much he tried.

"I'm the Spider Queen... You ever heard of the show Darkwood?" Yuuki asked, and the man's confused expression denoted that he had not. "Well, I'm Yuuki Darkwood, I'd welcome you into my home, but you already seem to be pretty familiar with the place."

The thief leader didn't know what was scaring him more, the suppressed sniper rifle in her hands... or the rest of her body that was dangling from the ceiling above the foyer like a fucked up spider chandelier.

"I'm sure you haven't seen the show, so I'll just explain what I am..." Yuuki giggled slightly as she pointedly glanced above his head, which drew his attention above him.

All five of his gang were tightly woven in her webs right above his head in cocoons stuck to the ceiling. None of them were moving, so he feared the worst.

"I'm a T-Ghoul." Yuuki finished her sentence as the man returned his gaze to her dangling arachnid form. "And you've impressed me, so unlike your men... I'm going to shoot you with this lovely Mosin Nagant my dad left for me just in case something like this happened. So, where should I aim... heart or head?"

He had no escape, so he accepted his fate. "Fuckin' hell, just shoot me in the head. You're no rookie at hiding yourself, kid. I have a small request, if that's alright."

"Let's hear it." Yuuki politely took her finger off the trigger and pressed it along the side of the trigger guard.

"I got this lockpick set, really good quality. I've always used it for, y'know." Hector shrugged slightly. "Anyway, so I want you to have it. I figure you could put my baby to good use since you outsmarted me like this. It's in here, my left pocket, can I..." He pointed one of his raised hands at his hip, so she nodded and let him withdraw the little tool. "I'll just put it here. Go ahead and shoot me, you win."

He put it on the nearby flat corner post of the banister and gave a respectful salute as she aimed the rifle again.

"Thank you, I will take good care of them." Yuuki curled her finger back around the trigger. "I wish you safe passage, honourable thief. Godspeed to you."

She fired, and the round - as she knew it would - slammed into the bulletproof body armour plate that Jake had been holding behind the man's head to prevent over-penetration like she'd expected.

Jake was knocked back by the impact with a ding of metal reverberating, but he didn't fall over. The leader dropped backwards and thudded loudly as Yuuki calmly worked the rifle's bolt and snatched the ejected round in mid air with blindingly fast reflexes.

"You good darling?" Yuuki slowly descended to the floor below, her Kakuja disintegrating just as her bare feet lightly patted the hardwood floor.

"I'm good, so what'll we do? Cops or CCG?" Jake asked, unsure about whether Yuuki would report the attempted break in or pass it off as defending herself and eating them.

"Let's hide the five goons and report him as a break in. I'll deal with the goons to make it look like they came after the police left."

"You're the boss." Jake grabbed the lockpick set and tossed it to her. "I'll get rid of the note we left in the safe while you make the call."

Yuuki already had her Kagune out as she walked up the stairs to get rid of the webs from her Kakuja.

* * *

"Nice looking rifle, is it yours or Tobias'?" The detective asked as Hector's body was carried out in a body bag behind them.

"It's my dad's, but he left it for me for an emergency." Yuuki had the rifle slung over her shoulder, her pajama tank top's strap hanging off her shoulder while Jake was shirtless, wearing his own pajama pants. "We heard him open the gun safe, so I grabbed it and shot that guy as soon as I saw him."

"Good job, Yuuki. We've been after this guy for a while now. His name's Hector Moralez, him and his gang usually hit places together, but seems he was running solo tonight." The detective held out his hand for a handshake, which she took in a firm grasp. "His mistake." He chuckled. "Anyway, the guys will be out of your hair after they're done cleaning the floor for you."

"Detective, the coroner just checked his head, the bullet went right through." A CSI came jogging over to them, and Jake spoke up about that.

"I had her dad's body armour in my hands for that. Didn't want to get in trouble for breaking something behind the guy, so I made sure it stopped the bullet." Jake explained, and the detective gave an impressed nod.

"Smart move, I'd hate to piss Tobias off... or your mother either."

"I know the feeling." Yuuki smiled, fixing her tank top's shoulder strap with her other hand. "Thanks for everything, detective."

"By the way, there's a cash reward for the guy. Come see me in the morning down at the station, alright? I'm sure your parents will like the twenty five thousand he's worth."

"Well, it's technically my moment of glory, so I think the money's mine." Yuuki smiled. "I'll be sure to stop by."

"Excellent, now, we'll be off. See you at the station." He gave her one last handshake, and Jake as well, then left in his car with the CSI crew that was just filing out of the house with some cleaning supplies in hand, each nodding respectfully at Yuuki before everything and everyone went back to the normal 3:30am silence of Saturday nights.

"Midnight snacktime?" Jake asked as they went back inside and closed the door behind them.

"Yeah, I'm feeling a bit peckish. You make the call, the CCG takes 25 minutes to get here." Yuuki handed over the Mosin as she went to the basement where she'd hidden the cocoons of the four men. "Looks like Hector Moralez's gang were a bit late to the party..."

* * *

"Now that is just plain unfortunate..." In an amusing coincidence, the same police group from earlier received the assistance call from the CCG, who had arrived to find Yuuki's face and most of her chest and hands covered with blood. This time Jake had the Mosin in his hands. "Looks like their streak of luck finally ran out as a group, not just Hector."

"Confirming details here, but this Hector you speak of..." The lead CCG Investigator had a folding notepad and a pen in hand, having taken notes while the armed CCG soldiers bagged the corpses of the four men that Yuuki tore apart in the foyer. The CSI team was waiting nearby with their cleaning supplies, all smirking at the night's events.

"The gang's leader. Yuuki caught him about an hour ago and shot him with that rifle. These five guys are his men. They clearly came looking for him in that abandoned black van up the road, I've had my guys tow it down to the station for prints." The detective explained. "Y'know this adds another ten grand to your reward, right Yuuki?"

"I didn't actually." Yuuki was genuinely shocked by the additional news. "I should convince my dad to just give me the Mosin when he gets back from DC... Damn thing's making me a very lucky lady."

"From what we've gathered, the gang as a whole didn't seem aware you were the one living here, nor that you were home and armed." The CCG guy closed his notepad after finishing his notes. "All five were killed without the rifle, I presume?"

"She's god damn scary up close, I couldn't get a shot off by the time she killed them all." Jake slung the rifle onto his shoulder. "Besides, there's still four rounds in the gun, you can check if you want."

"I trust your claim. Miss Darkwood, since this is an obvious case of self-defense, we will not add this incident to your file. Despite your usage of Kagune and partial consumption of the corpses, this is a police matter, not the Commission's." The Investigator tucked his notes inside his suit and clicked his pen loudly. "We're relinquishing control of the scene back to the LAPD and shall remove the corpses for safe and proper disposal, as per our contract with your family."

"Alright, it's almost five in the morning, I don't think any of us can get back to sleep at this point." Yuuki joked to the detective as the CCG Investigator picked up his Quinque case from the ground and walked back to his car.

"You keep that rifle handy from now on, y'hear?" The detective laughed. "She's definitely your Lucky Lady."

"I think we finally figured out the name for the gun." Jake whispered in Russian as the detective walked away to his own car.

"Hopefully my dad agrees with the idea... Once we tell him the whole story." Yuuki replied in kind. "It's his gun after all."


	38. Chapter 38

"It turned out better than I expected, wouldn't you agree?" Tobias smirked as he extracted the now named rifle from the delivery box. He'd liked the story Yuuki told him about the incident, and the $35,000 she showed him as proof was officially hers, so he spent his own money to have the rifle specially engraved with an adaptation of the rifle's name, Lucky Lady.

The tasteful cursive writing on the sides of the wood below the bolt were inlaid with silver that glittered like his and Yuuki's hair. Likewise scripted with inlaid silver along the length of the barrel on both sides was the same quote. First in English near the firing chamber and the fixed iron sights, then in Russian script in the middle and then in Japanese kanji near the barrel, 'A swift death to those with honour, which never runs out when you need it.'

Lastly, the leather ammo pouch on the stock was likewise customized with gold, proudly displaying her name on both sides. Lucky Lady was even more beautiful now that she'd gotten an identity of her own.

"Oh yeah, definitely a sexy Lady." Yuuki accepted the rifle as he offered it to her. She opened the bolt to check for any more engraving, and found the name was neatly carved on the inside of the casing deflector. "Absolutely gorgeous."

"With this much work into the gun, plus the name, I think it's time I tell you the truth about the Lady..." Tobias smiled warmly at his daughter's suspicious stare. "I did all of this as a gift, for you. I was planning to give it to you at the end of the school year, but I think that's pointless now."

"Wait... She's mine?" Yuuki's suspicion was quickly replaced by surprise. "You're serious?"

"Absolutely. She's already gotten your seal of approval, but now that you've got personal involvement with her, it's only natural that her ownership belong to you."

"I don't believe you..." Yuuki was still in disbelief. The gun had almost ten grand in custom work - she could see the $2,000 bill in the box - and it was all for her?

"Did I stutter?" Tobias smiled proudly at her, which was the final key she needed before she shove her arm through the shoulder strap and rushed to hug her father.

"Thank you, I'll take good care of her." Yuuki was so happy. Any normal girl - Ghoul or human - would get this excited about getting a nice car from their parent, but not her. She got a beautiful, customized antique sniper rifle, because being normal was boring.

"I think her taking care of _you_ is a better choice of words." Tobias returned the hug, noticing the nearby camera crew that had been recording the whole exchange were all tearing up with emotion. "I'll get you a safe for your growing arsenal, mine's a bit full."

"I already have an idea for what I want as my next gun." Yuuki adjusted Lady on her shoulder. "I want it to be a surprise, even for you."

"I can hardly wait." Tobias smiled at his daughter taking to the family tradition of being a professional badass.

He just hoped that she didn't learn about the Fourth Wall... Right Acidika?

* * *

"Oooh, that one's really nice." Sherry commented as they scrolled through the numerous images on Yuuki's laptop while Jake did the same on his phone beside them.

"How the hell do these bastards get such amazing artwork so quickly? We watched this week's episode at the same time as everyone else! It's been four hours since it ended, and they've already got pictures of me with Lady..." Yuuki gestured to the image on screen, which showed her in her usual leather corset and pants with her studded and bullet belts around her waist in her signature style with her holster bag around her thigh. Lady's stock was resting on her hip with that hand supporting the rifle by the foregrip area. Her other hand was depicted in the act of flipping a gold coin, and her face was a cocky, sassy little smirk. Written in silver across the bottom of the image was the the rifle's iconic quote in English. "If I find someone drew porn of me with my rifle, I'm probably going to break something."

"Do fanfics count? I found a few about you and Lady... This one's magically turned Lady into a human so you could have sex with her." Jake reported from his phone.

"That... actually sounds worthy of my attention, gimme that." She quickly grabbed the phone and started to read it. When she finished, she was actually slightly turned on by the mental imagery of her humanoid rifle. "Who wrote this...?" She scrolled back to the top and found the author's pen name. "How-Not-To-Do-Something, huh? I approve of your story, you crafty bastard. I just might... Pay you back for that." She spoke to herself as she gave Jake's phone back and returned to the fan art site.

* * *

Later that evening, Yuuki had the story prepared on her phone for her little idea. She sat at her desk, getting herself ready to record a video showcasing opinion of the fanfic of her and Lady.

Pressing the record button, she began her usual introduction. "Ohayo, privjet, what is up internet! It's me, Yuuki, and today I've got something a little bit different to discuss instead of a singing song. So, if you've seen the episode of Darkwood that was aired earlier this evening, you'll know who... this is!" She reached off camera to pick up Lady from where she'd been leaning.

"For those that don't know, this is Lucky Lady, a Mosin Nagant Model 91/30 that my dad customized from end to end. He was going to give it to me as a gift for the end of my school year, but there was a bit of an incident over the weekend. I was home alone with Jake for the whole weekend while my parents were away on business, and in the middle of the night, some guy broke into the house and tried to rob my dad's gun safe. So me and Jake got the jump on him and I shot him with Lady." She cradled her precious rifle to her chest. "So after we called the police to clean things up, the guy's gang of men come sneaking into the house looking for their boss guy. Obviously, I killed them." She shrugged slightly. "So the same cops come back, and the detective in charge made a joke about how she was so lucky for me taking down the whole gang with Jake, and that's how Lady got her name." She paused to lovingly pat the side of her gun before continuing. "So, when my dad finally gave her to me to keep was recorded for Darkwood, and I'm very pleased about all the amazing artwork that I'm still finding even at this moment." She indicated her nearby laptop with her thumb. "But, there's one thing I found that I particularly enjoyed. a fanfic about me and Lady, written by an author named How-Not-To-Do-Something. I wanted to say, whoever you are, I really loved your story, that way you described the humanoid version of Lady was really beautiful and very sexy. You're a great writer, you shouldn't be saying that your stories are 'amateur writing'. If you think you're being humble, that's fine, but I'm giving you credit where credit is due. You've impressed me, and I'd like to pay you back for that with this video."

Yuuki paused, thinking of her next train of thought, then had an 'aha!' moment that clearly showed on her face.

"I know! How about those lovely artists that keep making such amazing artwork of me take this special request from me: I want you all to draw me and Lady as we were depicted in How-Not-To-Do-Something's amazing story. I'll leave a direct link to the story in this video's description, maybe as an annotation... probably right here on the screen." Yuuki jokingly pointed at her chest. "Keep up the amazing work, sweetheart, you've earned it." Yuuki kissed her fingers and blew a kiss to the camera with a little wink before stopping the recording.

"Fuck you dad, I've known about the Fourth Wall for years. I've gotten used to Acidika's crap." Yuuki smiled as she glanced over at the Wall before setting to work with getting the footage prepared for editing.


	39. Chapter 39

"Okay, now I'm jealous..." Sherry didn't hear about Yuuki's video until after school that day when she met her and Jake at the cooking class' kitchen like they had been doing since the semester began. Right now, her and Jake were munching on Yuuki's very tasty cinnamon buns she'd made in class, both peering over her shoulder as she scrolled through thousands of fan art for Lucky Lady's offically approved humanoid form. They all shared the same source description from that story she'd praised in her video, but they were all depicted in each artist's preferred styles, making them all eye catching in their own way. "Your gun has more porn than the two of us did when Darkwood first started."

"That's because I actually acknowledged someone's work and wanted to see more of it." Yuuki paused occasionally to open the images that caught her attention, some were worthy of her praise, others not bad, but none really blew her away like the story - which exploded with approving reviews from the influx of readers that the annotation link she'd placed over her cleavage in the video had provided them - had done. She even made herself an offical profile on the site that the story was posted on, favourited and saved the story, and then sent How-Not-To-Do-Something a private message expressing her approval and a warning about the video's incoming consequences.

"You should get Motoko to help you make an official website to gather all the art and stories about you. Shouldn't be that hard, right?" Jake suggested, and Sherry - who was biting her cinnamon bun - gave enthusiastic sounds of approval.

"That... is a really good idea, grab my phone, I'll try calling her to see if she's back in LA yet." She accepted the retrieved device and tapped Motoko's number before bringing it to her ear.

"Hi, Yuuki, how can I help you?" Motoko answered in Japanese, so Yuuki instinctively answered in kind.

"So I'm sure Stella told you about my new video, right?"

"She did indeed. I'll admit, art isn't her strong suit." Motoko sounded amused.

"Well, Jake just came up with a really brilliant idea about making myself an official website to collect all the art and stories about me. I was wondering if you could give me a hand in making it?" Yuuki explained the idea, and Motoko paused for a brief moment to consider it.

"I'll come visit you in half an hour, then we can discuss it with your parents, just in case they don't like the idea."

"Alright, see you then. Bye." Yuuki bade her friend goodbye, then summarize the conversation to Jake and Sherry in English, which made them agree with Motoko's line of thinking.

"Five bucks says Tobias doesn't like the idea." Sherry pulled out a five dollar bill to show she wasn't joking.

"Five on Rize. You're on." Jake immediately took the bet and pulled out a five of his own.

"I get both if they don't have a problem with it. Motoko gets both if they both say no. Deal?" Yuuki went the two possible alternative paths in the bet, getting up to inform her parents about Motoko's visit.

"Deal."

* * *

"Took you long enough." Tobias smiled after Yuuki and Motoko explained the idea about creating her own website for her fans to collectively gather. "I've been waiting for you to come up with this for ages."

"You knew?" Yuuki wasn't sure why, but her father clearly liked the idea far more than she'd expected.

"The internet blows up about you more than it does for us, Yuuki." Rize let out a small chuckle. "And now that you've acknowledged a fan's work, I think the website's an excellent idea. Have you come up with a possible name for the site yet?"

"Actually, I have..." Yuuki nodded, having won the ten bucks for the bet. "The Spider Web."

Rize was visibly impressed by the clever name, and Tobias smiled as well.

"That's actually really clever." He laughed as Motoko spoke up.

"I can do the security coding myself, it's no trouble. If we start now, I can have the site's framework ready in a few hours. Designing the pages and preparing any images or video might take another hour or two, but we can have the site live by midnight."

"I won't stop you, have fun." Tobias smirked at how Jake and Sherry sneakily handed Yuuki ten dollars from behind their backs. He could tell she'd won the bet, whatever the conditions were.

"I have one thing to ask." Rize held up her hand to stop them from leaving. "Are you going to announce it with a video on your Youtube channel?"

"Oh yeah... That's actually a good idea. Might crash the site, unless Motoko's got some sort of tricks up her sleeve for that." She glanced at the cyborg, who nodded with a smile.

"I have a few tricks that'll work. Let's get started." She turned and followed them up to Yuuki's room to get started.

* * *

"Ohayo, privjet, what is up internet! It's me Yuuki with some good news! As of about an hour ago, I have an official website, which I've stuck the link to the homepage on my boobs like last time. I'll still be uploading my singing videos on this channel, but my website's been designed as a hub for all my lovely fanfiction writers, artists and even all you arachnephobic haters out there. So I'll be waiting, my little pretties, see you in The Spider Web!" Yuuki gave her super bubbly little speech, which ended in her signature blown kiss and a coy wink.

Jake was quick to end the minute and a half long recording from his position out of the frame, and in under twenty minutes, the video was officially uploaded to her Youtube channel, getting a few thousand views in the first two minutes.

"Thank you so much, Motoko, it's perfect." Yuuki already saw the rising - live data - counters on the homepage for her total Spiderlings - the name she'd given her fanbase - and the currently online Spiderlings, the number rising like crazy the more she watched it.

"I'll tell Stella right away." Motoko was pleased that Yuuki liked it so much, and of course, the site had six layers - which was a lot, but it was also a reference to her six eyes - of military grade security coding. The coding was so strong that even she had trouble doing a breach attempt... and she wrote the code! "Have fun... My Queen." She waved with a teasing smile as she left Yuuki to watch over her Web, already getting fanfics and artwork hastily transferred from other sites by the influx of fans.

* * *

All six of her family, Jake, Sherry, Motoko and Stella made personal accounts on her Web, and after she'd gotten their names from them, she made them administrators from her appropriately named master account, The Spider Queen. Motoko had coded the site to deny anyone that tried to use it - in any form - as their username, leaving her with the title alone. Her admins, all ten of them, had their profile icons as Black Widow spiders, which Motoko had also blocked her fans from using. Her own icon was her logo, her iconic spider tattoo. Not even her admins could get that, let alone her fans.

By the time her exams started, the site was a bustling hub of activity. Hundreds of pictures were uploaded in various categories of art, of all styles, everyday. There was a section for users that were confirmed to be over the age of 18 (hers, Jakes and Sherry's accounts were immune to the age restriction) where the porn art and smut stories were collected. There were chatrooms, a livestream feed for whenever she felt like talking to her fans, and of course, the site had a directly embedded video player for each week's Darkwood episode, plus an archive of all the previous ones since the show began almost two years earlier.

Last but not least, on the homepage, there was a section entitled 'The Queen's Bites'. That was the master list of all her personal favourites she came across, from art - both tame and porn - fanfictions, and a list of her favourite bands. Though anyone could read it, only she could add to it. Of course, when she added to the list, whoever created that item was immediately swamped with praise - and sometimes hatred - from their fellow Spiderlings. But, no matter what, her approval was confirmed by her big red logo at the side of the page. She didn't need to type a comment or click the 'like' button. She had more commands than anyone, so with one click, she could mark her favourites and automatically save it to her Bites.

"So, my Spiderlings, my exams are beginning next week, I won't be on the Web until late during that time, I might do another chat stream if I have the time. Because tomorrow, I'm expecting a very special delivery. I'll do a live unboxing when it arrives, so keep an eye... or six, out for the announcement before I start the stream. Bye bye~!" Yuuki ended her live announcement message with her iconic multi-eyed wink and a blown kiss before ending the broadcast and sighing happily.

She loved it, and because she was able to just do with it what she pleased, her Web wasn't as time consuming as she'd originally thought it would. Of course, she had special events like the aforementioned chat stream or delivery unboxing, but they weren't rigidly scheduled to a time and day. She had the freedom to plan a three hour chat, but suddenly end it after 45 minutes. It was _her_ site, not theirs.

Plus, the art and the stories, not to mention the ability to actually communicate in live time with her fans - and mock her haters alongside them - felt so much better than having people just keep their distance with a camera.

Plus, now that she had a better tech setup with a custom gaming computer - purchased with her reward money from the police - she could even further connect to her fans in various games online, or suddenly grab Lucky Lady and go to the BSAA training grounds and broadcast some rangetime, or go swimming with a waterproof GoPro. As the homepage's bold quote beside her official image stated 'My life, my way. If you don't like it, then bite me. But just remember that I'm the Spider Queen and I bite back.'

Smiling, she got up from her desk and got ready to get some sleep. It was the last Friday before her two exams - Art and Cooking didn't have official written exams, so she had the latter two of the four days off - and her package she'd ordered was due to arrive tomorrow. She hadn't told anyone what it was, but there were multiple items, including some clothing, that she wanted from around the world. The reason it took so long was the final gathering process and putting them all into one box to be brought right to her front door.

* * *

Yuuki slept in for a bit, enjoying the sounds of the nearby coastline with her eyes still closed before her phone rang from her endtable. She grabbed it and answered in English without checking the number.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Miss Darkwood, your delivery arrived earlier than we'd expected, we've just dispatched the courier to your specified address. It should arrive in the next forty five to sixty minutes."

"Perfect, thanks for the call." Yuuki quickly hung up and got out of bed, tapping out the announcement into her Spider Queen Twitter account with one hand, the other tapping the same message to her Web's homepage announcements. 'My delivery's arriving in one hour, stream will start in thirty minutes~!'

Posting both at the same time, Yuuki left her room to grab a morning coffee and use the bathroom. When she returned, the Web was abuzz with excitement about this mystery package she was receiving. So, still in her pyjama tank top and boy shorts, she started the broadcast by taking a very pointedly loud sip of coffee.

"I usually wake up to the Pacific Ocean outside my window, which is a lovely sound, don't get me wrong..." She took a quieter sip before setting the cup on her desk. "But today, when I decide to try and sleep in, USPS sends me a friendly little reminder that my package came early and they've already sent their delivery boy to hand it over."

The chat box, which was strictly monitored to keep the rate of messages at a reasonably pace, was filled with Good Mornings and happy cheers, plus her official cartoon spider emotes. She smiled as she rubbed some sleep from her main eyes with one hand, the other on her mouse, clicking her music playlist for the stream.

"Ohayo, Ohayo, hi there, my darlings." She smiled, slowly waking up with her fans and the cup of coffee. She always kept her upper eyes open during a stream, one pair to watch the chat, and the other two to focus on what she was doing, so she had them open and cleared of any remaining sluggishness by the time she'd finished her coffee. "So, you guys remember the story about Lucky Lady?" She asked, pausing for the curious comments to pop in. "Well, that group of guys that tried to break in to my house... They were wanted by the police, and the group as a whole had a $35,000 reward on their heads." She was grinning, nodding as the 'aha!' comments popped up. "That's right, Big Bertha and my special package were bought using that money, and I still have more left over." She patted her nearby computer tower, nicknamed Big Bertha by the fans from it's sheer size - which she officially approved of and had the name on a custom sticker she'd drawn herself stuck to the side - before continuing. "So, it should be arriving in about ten minutes, what should I do to the courier? Give me some ideas." She smiled, leaning closer to her camera like she was whispering to them in secret.

A few suggestions about scaring him popped up, but suddenly one caught her eye and she gave a full fang glinting grin.

"Oh boy, I like that one, VermillionSkull. I'll do it." She grinned at the camera. "But what about if he's not attractive?"

The user she'd liked had said to flash the courier her tits, and that wasn't exactly a difficult task for her. She did it almost daily to at least one person without realizing it, and three times intentionally.

"'Do it anyway!'" Yuuki laughed at the reply, clapping her hands. "You just want to see my tits yourself, don't you?"

Who doesn't? You have a porn section on this site for a reason, My Queen.

Yuuki laughed again. "You have a point, I won't deny that." She smiled. "But if it's a woman, ugly or not, I won't do it... Intentionally. I mean, accidents happen, right?" She winked suggestively at the camera, grabbing her unrestricted bust with a sly grin just as she heard the doorbell ring. "Oh, lovely timing. It's here~!" She quickly bolted downstairs and opened the door, finding the surprisingly attractive black man with the large cardboard box at the ready.

"Yuuki Darkwood, sorry for the earliness of the delivery, like we said, it came early." He spoke with a courteous smile as she signed the form that was on top of the big box. "Thank you, and have a good day." He nodded his head as he took the clipboard and left. She effortlessly hauled the box - heavy enough for a human to complain - onto her shoulder and closed the door behind herself with her foot.

Returning to her livestream, she dropped the box onto her bed and already saw the chat's excited comments. "Okay, so before I start attacking the box, I didn't get to flash him, but he was a really tall black guy, so he at least got a glimpse, if that even counts." She shrugged, then leaned over to redirect her camera to get a better view of the room. She sat in her chair and lifted the box - which briefly showed her flexed biceps, earning a few praises in the process - and placed it in the freed space in view of the camera.

"Alright, one clusterfuck box of all my international goodies, ten sharp claws, and here... we... go!" She grinned as she extended her claws and tore the box open.

First thing she extracted was several books she'd been wanting to read, a fantasy/magical series she'd grown very curious about, called Septimus Heap. It was a complete series by now, started a good five to ten years before she was born, and she got all seven books.

"Okay, so, these books are a bit of a hard find, but it's the Septimus Heap series, I saw it in passing and really liked reading the first book online." She tapped the cover of the specific one with her hand as she pulled them out and stacked them on her lap. "Sadly, there's no porn in them. Definitely gonna read them later." She set the books aside, earning a few agreements about the story. "Hey, hey, hey! No spoilers! I've only finished the first book!" She spotted a cheeky spoiler attempt and pointed at the camera sternly while her other hand pulled out her next item.

Flicking her hair out of her face, she pulled out the first of the half dozen of the smallest of her purchases, which was a specially made figurine of her officially approved chibi design, of course this being the one of her in her usual leather outfit. "Oh, finally! These took fucking forever!"

She brandished her sassily posed chibi towards the camera with a happy smile. "So, as you guys know, I've got a Queen's Bite for this chibi rendition of a bunch of my iconic outfits. So this is my leather set..." She leaned over to place it on the free space in front of Big Bertha. "Hang on, I'll get them out of the box and show them to you." She quickly gathered the other five and put them on her lap, showing them one at a time in the same manner. "So here's my surfing one, the board's a bit small, but it's a chibi, so I don't give a shit about the size." She put it beside her first one, then grabbed the one of her in full Scale Mail. "Scale Mail, which you guys know is from my Hydrokinesis, it looks like I'm made of Titanium or something, nicely done!" She added it to her desk, then unwrapped the other three from their bubblewrap. "Ooooooh, Lucky Lady! Even as a chibi, she's sexy as fuuuuuck~!" Yuuki praised the figurine in a singsong voice, showing the official humanoid version of her rifle to the pleased chat before carefully placing it with the others.

Next was her suit and fedora, yet again in a sassy pose with a smirking expression. "Okay, so, I haven't worn it for a while, but someone must've seen me at the time, because this was the outfit I wore on my first date with Jake, ages and ages ago." She displayed the classy outfit, which was clearly new to almost all of the chat. "No, no, I still have the suit, I just haven't worn it. I'll probably wear it to school for my exams or something, whatever." She shrugged and added it to the collection. "So... this is the last one... and it super cute, definitely a tie for my favourite with Lucky Lady..." She covered the figurine with her hand before waiting on the chat's excitement. "PJ chibi!" She held out the last one, which had her cutely rubbing her eye with one hand while yawning. The other had a blanket dragging behind her, and she was wearing the exact pair of PJ's right now, the casual tank top and boy shorts. "So, vote time~! Fave chibi figurine. I can't decide between Lady and PJ, personally. Here, let's get them all in the frame so you came see them..." She fixed the camera and kept two eyes on the chat. "Let me bring up the voting link..." She typed the commands in and input the necessary criteria for her six chibi's, then posted the link for them to cast their votes. Of course, she was immune to the slowed message rate, as were her ten Widows - her admins' nicknames - that were likely listening or watching from the shadow, like always.

"Okay, sixty seconds for voting... starts now! Go!" She hit enter, and the automatic timer began to count down before locking the link down once it ran out. It would then display the results using her Spider Queen's immunity to the chat's speed lock.

Once the timer ran out, the chat was locked out of the link, then the chat was forcibly frozen as the six results were displayed from lowest to highest, and only she could unlock it, not even a Widow could do that.

"Surfer's in sixth... fifth is Scale Mail..." Yuuki read each result as they came in. "Leather's fourth, oh, that's a surprise." She nodded, letting the top three load in. "PJ's third, really?" She shook her head this time, but knew the chat was anticipating the - intentionally longer - delay which would reveal the top two in the same text comment.

"And the winner is..." Yuuki knew it was either Lucky Lady or her suit, but she wanted it to be Lady, personally. " _LUCKY LADY_!"

With one click, she unfroze chat, letting them celebrate with her as she leaned over and produced Lady from off camera, kissing the barrel with a sly smile and putting Lady back before holding up her hands to signal for calm.

"It was close, but she still won, it's only fair." Yuuki rearranged them with Lady at the front of the group. "I'll need to put them in better spots on my desk, but right now, I've got some more things to share."

Yuuki's unboxing continued with all of her lovely purchases for about an hour; she had a new leather biking jacket with her big red spider logo on the back, a new corset with red accents, and a Quinque Steel kukri style knife with her logo embossed into the surface of the blade. That made her smile and admire the slightly smaller blade than her current one from Tobias.

"See, the thing about my spider logo... I can't see the original one, even with six eyes." She slid her new knife back into the sturdy sheath. "So that's why I put it on a few of my things. That way, I add that personal touch, and still get to see it every time I use them."

"That's your fault for asking me to put it on your back, sweetie." Serenity's Widow comment popped up with the usual dinging notification for the stream as a whole to hear.

"Yeah, well I got big tits, shush!" Yuuki stuck her tongue out at her aunt's comment. "And you can't just chop them off either, they'll regenerate!"

"Worth a try though. You never know until you succeed... Or fail." Sere's reply dinged again, and she was easily living up to her screen name, The Artistic Yandere Surgeon.

"No thanks! I'm good!" She flipped Sere off with her left hand as she took the last lightweight package from inside the main box. "Oh... shit, I actually ordered this separately."

Since it was in opaque brown paper, nobody knew what the package contained, so after a brief moment of staring at it, she set it aside without opening it.

"That one's a special one, it wasn't meant to be delivered until after my exams." She waved her hand dismissively. "Not opening it, sorry."

"I think I know what it is." Alice dinged, and Yuuki didn't even comment on it. She knew because she'd seen Yuuki making the purchase weeks ago.

"So nobody's allowed to comment on it. She will reveal it when the time is right." Alice added right afterwards as Yuuki pulled the first of the two heavy boxes that remained in the box.

"Thanks, Alice." Yuuki thanked her grandmother with a smile, then placed the box on her lap. "So, this is my new bike helmet. Like a lot of my other stuff, it's got my red spider on it, but it's just a black bike helmet. Nothing too complex." She still pulled it out and tried it on, then adjusted the neck strap for a moment until it was in the right spot. She pulled it off and set it on her bed, then heaved a long exhale through her mouth.

"Alright, last one. And this is the one that I've been really waiting for out of all of these awesome things." Yuuki extracted the crown jewel of her purchases. Almost immediately, her father's Frostbite profile dinged in chat.

"I recognize that carrying case." She could almost sense his proud smile behind that comment.

"Yeah, that's right." She set the hard plastic case onto her now messy desk. "Like my dad's hinting at, I bought myself a new gun. It's already customized, and I've named it too." She clicked the two locks open, but didn't lift the case open yet. "So, as you can guess, this one's the big one. Took fucking ages, and the bastard kept teasing me with 'almost done, it'll be ready soon' messages." She turned the case so that the lid would block the camera. "Now that it's here... I'd like everyone... to say hello... to my new gun..." She opened the lid and prepared to spin it around. "Say hello to Tarantula, my new Desert Eagle."

She spun it around, and the first comment was from her dad.

"That's my girl."


	40. Chapter 40

Yuuki's school was unusual compared to others in the city. The Friday at the end of the summer exam week was their only prom. All students had the option to attend, regardless of their year, and since it was right after exams, the fact they could so easily wind down after the near-mental breakdowns they went through from studying was a welcomed time.

"So... Today's the last exam day, and tomorrow's my school's prom." Yuuki explained to the mid-afternoon chat during her promised chatstream. "I'm gonna go with Jake and Sherry, so I won't be online at all after about 11 AM. I'll post any pictures we take tomorrow, and no, I'm still not revealing my dress I got in my goodie box."

That surprise package she'd ignored was her dress, she'd admitted what it was, but didn't take it out or open the paper on Tuesday after her Vocal Music final performance during a gaming session with a few of her fans. She'd only revealed the main colour, admittedly after placing the requirement that they win their match against the other team, which to her knowledge wasn't involved in the stream, not that she cared. They put up a good fight, but she and her team managed to sneak ahead at the last possible second to win the match.

Her dress was red, that was all she admitted before switching to another game, which was a single player game they were enjoying watching her play.

"Do I plan on another goodie box? Not sure, I might take a look at a few things I've been considering, but I don't have any immediate plans for another big one." She read the question from chat with her lower eyes while her upper eyes kept track of her casual browsing of her latest Bites. Chat couldn't see what her screen displayed, but she could still read the chat and see herself. "How much was my dress? Eight hundred and fifty."

"Yeah, I know." She read the comment that her nearby coffee had been ignored for a while now. "I'm not bothered by that, might as well dump it out after the stream."

Chatstreams were calm, relaxing interactions with the chat. Sometimes, she browsed her Web with them (which was what she was doing now) other times she just listened to music and gossiped about other celebrities or events in the news. Sometimes she studied, if there were enough students in the chat of course. It was a mellow experience compared to her much more rowdy gaming streams or special events like the goodie box or rangetime with her four guns. Lucky Lady was her only longarm, and of course she had Tarantula, but she still had her USP.45 (now with the same official H&K Match barrel modification, just like Silence, Tobias' personal one) and safely hidden under her pillow (her fans hadn't seen it being put there or removed while on camera, for good reason) was her Jetfire, as an emergency backup in case she had a late night surprise to deal with.

"A new gun? Yeah, I have an idea in mind, just sorting out a few things before I have one delivered." She saw the question and nodded as she spoke. "No, not another pistol this time. I was looking at getting myself a full-auto weapon."

Chat grew curious about what she had in mind, so she copy and pasted the links to images of the three guns she was considering. First was a Japanese M-23 assault rifle, then a Russian AS VAL underwater rifle, and lastly, she was considering an FN P90, straight from Belgium.

"See my problem now? All of them are really suitable for me, and I can't make up my mind." She returned to her browsing through some of the recently uploaded non-porn artwork. "No, not enough people are in the chat for a vote. I only do those for more than two hundred people."

"That's actually a good idea, I'll do that in the next gaming stream." Yuuki saw the suggestion for posing the gun vote during her more populated streams, such as rangetime or any gaming sessions. "Screw it, I'll go dump the cold coffee now, it's starting to annoy me."

She quickly dealt with the cold drink, returning with a glass of water to see that about a dozen more people had joined in her absence. "Chatstream today, darlings. I played a few matches yesterday, so I'm just relaxing before prom tomorrow."

"We were just discussing the next gun I'm stuck on deciding to buy. I linked pictures of the three I've chosen." Yuuki returned to her seat as the current topic was asked about by a newcomer. "Yeah, that's my plan. Not enough people for a vote."

Her phone suddenly rang, and of course, she didn't care about the chat hearing the call. It was Jake.

"Hey babe, what's up?"

"Just finished our exams, any plans for the day?"

"Nothing really, just a lazy chatstream right now." Yuuki traced the letter J in the air with her finger to let them know it was Jake calling.

"You enjoying your second day off?" Jake sounded amused. Thursday was the day she usually had a gaming session, by now she'd be either about to win, or swearing like a sailor about to lose the match.

"I'm not wearing pants, if that counts as enjoying my day off." Yuuki smiled. It was true, she had an oversized black t-shirt on and no pants, just a pair of panties hidden underneath.

"I like the mental image." Jake teased. "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow for prom. Tell the stream I'll be keeping an eye on them when I get home."

"I will." Yuuki smiled.

"Alright have fun, I love you."

"I love you too, bye." She hung up, swiveling her chair back and forth with one leg raised onto the seat, using her other leg to do the absent minded turning. "Jake wanted me to pass along that he'd be online as soon as he gets home." She tapped the special sound effect for him, which was a soundclip of her saying the words from an early gaming steam she'd saved. Police sirens whooped twice and the stream's feed flashed red and blue with Jake's screen name at the bottom of the screen crudely crossed out by red marker, overwritten with the words "Fun Police" in white writing. Her voiceover of mocking Jake's choice for choosing the police officer character at the time, "Look out, it's the Fun Police!" played in time with the little animation, then faded away with her amused little giggling.

"Oh hell yeah, he hates that one." Yuuki nodded at chat, still smiling. It was true, Jake was a huge killjoy sometimes, but she still loved him. "His fault though, now it's part of my soundboard."

After several seconds, one of the quieter ones in this stream asked who else she had a sound for.

"I have at least one for all ten of my Widows, Jake has the most with three. Dad's still only got the one, Mom's got her two, and of course I've got some of my own special ones I've been collecting from myself." Yuuki replied, then they asked how many sounds she had in total. "In total? Twenty two or twenty three, I'll check."

She quickly counted out her soundboard's named sounds, then gave the total. "It's got twenty three, yeah. Like I said, every one of my Widow's have their announcement quote for when they sign into the chat, Jake has his Fun Police sirens and the comment he made when we played that Payday 2 game a few weeks ago." She scrolled over the quote, which was him swearing several times before saying "If I see one of those god damn Cloakers, I'm gonna shove this bag of Gold... FUCK!" Which was the first time of over a dozen times that the Cloaker - a slightly tough special enemy that often hid behind and under things to ambush by jump kicking the player - scared him by appearing out of no where and kicked him with their signature 'Wulululululu!' sound.

"So yeah, as you can see, things like that are what mostly fill my soundboard. I also have a few derpy sound effects that I've made while playing too, like this..." She used her own voice to make the sound she often made when working on puzzles that confused her. "My favourite heist in Payday 2? I really like Hoxton Breakout and First World Bank, but I gotta say my favourite's Golden Grin Casino, done loud. I love the BFD so much." Yuuki replied to the new comment, which was followed up by her favourite member of the Payday Gang. "Sokol, definitely Sokol. I totally ship him with Clover." She paused before adding. "Sydney's cute too, but that hair though."

Why do you ship Sokol and Clover?

"Okay, so, I ship them because Sokol stole one of Clover's lines. And I thought it was adorable." Yuuki explained. "So, one of Clover's lines when she gets a Cloaker kill is 'Call me the Cloaker smoker!', and like I said, since Sokol's DLC was released after hers, he has the same line, so I believe that he heard her use it at some point and took it. So if any of you here are writers, I'll post a big request for everyone to indulge my little fantasy pairing." She pointed at the screen with a smile. "No Bonnie though, not a fan of her as much."

"I just don't like her personality." She saw the questions as they came in. "Clover X Sydney, I like them together too, their personalities really synergize nicely. And of course, my Payday OTP is Sokol X Clover." Yuuki explained her ships for the game, but then a new question caught her attention.

"What is my ultimate unrestricted crackship OTP pairing?" She read the question before leaning back in her chair to really think about who she'd pair from anywhere and with anyone she pleased. "I gotta say... my crackship OTP will definitely have to be... Lucky Lady with... Jill Valentine, one of my dad's fellow BSAA operatives. She's like, holy fuck!" Yuuki couldn't capture Jill's amazing backside into words, just held her hands in a way that mined groping an awesome booty. "This woman's ass is better than mine, I'm not joking. Mmph! The illegal things I would _do_ to her glorious backside! _FUCK_!" Yuuki couldn't contain her obvious excitement about the sudden sexual fantasy.

After a moment to collect herself, Yuuki returned to her chat, but a gentle knock at her door made her turn to see who it was... and she went very pale as the door opened.

"What's this I hear about you doing illegal things to my glorious backside?" Jill's amused smile reminded Yuuki that she'd been far too loud with that particular comment.


	41. Chapter 41

"That dress of hers better be worth all the whispering and the curiosity for eight fifty. Jeez." Jake adjusted his suit's cuffs while he and Sherry (who was wearing a cute blue dress) waited for Yuuki to arrive. She hadn't hinted or teased anything during her brief chatstream that morning, and the moment the stream ended, the Queen hadn't been seen or heard from since, save for her phone call to Sherry ten minutes earlier to inform them she was arriving shortly.

"And it's not black, can't forget that." Sherry agreed. As much as they loved Yuuki, she wore too much black. Way too much.

"You have a point, but I don't really care about that part. She's still sexy no matter what she wears." Jake glanced up to see a white limo pulling to a stop and the rear doors opening to reveal two other students in a higher grade.

"I thought that'd be her, to be honest..." Sherry had lit up with excitement when the limo arrived, but her immediately deflated when the two seniors got out.

"Trust me, we'll know." Jake had the feeling Yuuki was toying with them now, but when a familiar black pickup truck pulled up with tinted windows, he smiled. He could almost sense her through the glass. "It's her."

It was indeed. Yuuki opened the door and tauntingly descended with a cheeky smile on her face, revealing that long awaited red dress was a long style chinese style dress that had an oriental dragon in gold along her chest with a slit in the side that went all the way to mid thigh, showing off her long and sexy legs which were clad in a nice pair of red flats that clearly came with the dress.

"It was either the red with a dragon, or black with an ugly fish. I went with the dragon." Yuuki knew what they were thinking, black was her thing... But not today of course. "Think I made the right choice?"

Sherry was still stuck gawking, but Jake smiled and nodded.

"You're going to steal the whole show."

* * *

"The Spider Queen's back at it, ladies and gentlemen! We've just received confirmation that she's finally revealed that long anticipated red dress! Our fashion experts are here to discuss the Queen's newest look." The gossip show's host showed the paparazzi shot of Yuuki's arrival at her prom, taken from an obviously safe distance across the street.

"Firstly, the style of the dress is a high collared traditional chinese dress with a three quarter slit up both legs, and the matching red flats are of similar detail." One of the experts had a hard copy of the photograph on screen, pointing at each detail with a keen eye. "The chest embroidery is also traditional, depicting a dragon made of gold."

"Now, tell us, is it worthy of your expert design opinion?" The host asked, and the three experts all showed signs of agreement.

"Absolutely, the colour is bold, the style is trendy, and she's definitely taunted her Spiderling fanbase with all the secrecy about this lovely dress. We'd certainly like to hear more from her directly about the designer and brand."

"There you have it folks! The Spider Queen's little red dress has received our experts' seals of approval. As always, Yuuki Darkwood's website is the source for all information directly from the Spider Queen herself. Until next time, goodnight!"

The gossip show's breaking news report ended, and Rize shut the TV off with a smile.

"I expected it to be a lot shorter than that..." She commented to herself as she went back to reading.

* * *

"Perfect." HUNK was in position, all of his work from the shadows for the past several weeks was paying off now. "Team 1, this is HUNK, mission is green. I repeat, mission is green."

* * *

As expected, Yuuki drew all eyes on her when the trio entered the prom's rented dancehall. Not because of Jake and Sherry on both of her arm, but because of her dress.

The girls scowled and gave her scathing stares, but a lot of the guys gave catcalls and wolf whistles before being slapped by their dates. Yuuki smiled at the collective sounds, prom might actually turn out to be more fun that she'd expected. She still felt reassured in carrying Tarantula between her legs, expertly concealed by her slightly widened stance... Just in case.

* * *

Several students asked her to sing for them throughout the night, but she flattly refused each time. This was her time to unwind, she wasn't in the mood to sing tonight.

Near the end of the night, Yuuki felt a chill run up her spine that made her pause, catching Jake and Sherry's attention.

"You alright?" Jake was quickly at her side, and she sniffed the air several times.

"Neo-Umbrella. I smell gunpowder." Yuuki was worried. "We need to leave... Now."

"Which pistol's between your legs?" Jake and Sherry didn't argue, both of them flanked her as they immediately abandoned the prom's excitement in favour of cold hard training. They were still in the killbox, they had to get out of the building.

"Tarantula, I can tell you've got your USP." She saw his shoulder holster's print under his arm. "Sherry, yours is in your purse, right?"

"Yeah, it is." Sherry's hand inched towards the bag's clasp as they reached the building's inner set of doors and shoved them open...

 _Click._

They heard the gun safety ahead of them and immediately froze. It was a soldier in full tactical gear in a gas mask with red lenses and a bulletproof helmet. Yuuki had only heard rumours of this bastard, and they weren't good ones.

" _HUNK!_ " Yuuki grabbed Jake and Sherry by the arms and hauled them backwards into the crowded dancehall. Their sudden flight, combined with Yuuki's powerful voice made the crowd turn in curious shock to see her running with them away from the soldiers that were now coming into the hall.

Of course, panic broke out, and they all scattered, leaving the trio in the center of the wide open dancefloor with no cover and over a dozen soldiers readying their weapons at them. Yuuki spotted only M4's, but they all had M203 grenade launchers. "Jake, I _really_ want to kill your dad right now!"

"You and me both!" Jake didn't even hesitate before agreeing. He and Sherry had their guns out and stood at the ready as HUNK gave a hand signal before speaking through his gas mask.

"Take them down."

The team of commando's opened fire, and Yuuki bodyblocked her partners with her Scale Mail. The rounds pinged off her armour and began tearing her dress as she reached under the skirt to produce her Desert Eagle.

The spider webs engraved into the entire chrome plated weapon and the thick black rubber grip were high quality, but it also had an inch and a half compensator mounted on the barrel, and of course, hidden under her fingers on the grip was her red spider logo.

"BITE ME, ASSHOLES!" She fired the gun one handed with an even louder blast than the M4's or her partner's pistols. "YOU JUST _HAD_ TO RUIN MY PROM!"

The .50 Action Express round made quick work of the soldier she shot, but HUNK gave another hand signal, still firing at her.

A smoke grenade was tossed towards her, but she ran over to it and gave it a hefty kick right back into the guy's face before shooting through it and into his head.

"FUCK OFF!" Yuuki'd had the forethought to wear shorts and a tank top under her dress, which was clearly not going to survive to see morning at this rate. She was getting sick and tired of Wesker's bullshit.

"Grenades at the ready!" HUNK was still giving commands with hand signals, even with three - Jake just shot one - of his team killed.

All of them gripped the M203's triggers and aimed at Yuuki, who snarled before activating all six of her Kakugan...

And her Kakuja.


	42. Chapter 42

More people screamed as Yuuki's Kakuja forming from her back. The chitin forming on her arms and legs right over her Scale Mail as she bared her fangs at HUNK.

" _FIRE_!"

The next thing that they knew, she was already right in front of them, impaling with her legs, slashing with her claws, and shooting both her gun and her webs until an explosion hit her thorax, causing some sort of green gas to start spreading around her.

HUNK was the one that fired the grenade, but several gunshots from Jake and Sherry made him spin on his heel and raise his rifle.

Just as he was about to fire, Yuuki's web shot out and entangled his rifle, then she pulled it out of his hands. It was the best she could do, the gas was making her feel extremely nauseous and physically weak, which were signs of dehydration. Whatever the gas was, it was clearly designed to attack the moisture in the air to disable her.

"Fuckin'... ass...hole." She finally started to succumb to the gas, then stared Jake and Sherry right in the face with a struggling expression of defiance. "Go... I'll be f-fine..."

Jake understood right away, then grabbed Sherry by the arm and ran outside, leaving Yuuki with HUNK, who was speaking into his radio.

"She's disabled, Team 2, secure." He retrieved his rifle and tore the webs off, keeping her where she was at gunpoint. Her gun was out of ammo, and she couldn't fight back as the team of soldiers came in with gas masks to restrain and disarm her before taking her away in a large armoured truck.

* * *

"Understood, you two get here as fast as you can." Tobias hung up, very calm about the kidnapping. "This is going to get ugly..." He commented to himself before dialing another number and speaking into the device. "Captain Darkwood, reporting a Code Zero. I repeat, Code _Zero_."

* * *

"Spiderlings, this is an emergency announcement. Yuuki's been taken hostage by a known bioterrorism group to the BSAA. Until further notice, all events and activity are postponed. The BSAA is now taking action to get her back." Tobias ended the live announcement on Yuuki's computer, then spotted Lucky Lady leaning nearby. He knew she'd be in need of several things, so he used his Telekinesis to gather what he knew she'd want and left the panicking chat.

* * *

Yuuki knew before opening her eyes that she was in a tank of water. Any fool that put her in one was confident in keeping her secure with something else, so she took stock of what she could feel on her body.

Firstly, she had something metal around her ankle, likely a restraint. She was also not clothed, but that wasn't a concern since her Scale Mail was active. And she seemed to be in a sitting position, so she decided to open her eyes.

"I know you can hear me." She wasn't impressed by who was sitting on the other side of the single large pane of - likely bulletproof - glass. The rest of the tank was metal, about ten feet in all directions.

"Indeed." Wesker nodded, sitting with his fingers tented together. "How was your prom? I heard the gossip media quite liked your dress."

"Fuck you." Yuuki wasn't going to play his little game. "Smart move, by the way, I can tell this is your damn ship, but I can't sense anything beyond this tank."

"Correct, welcome aboard Der Reichstag, Miss Darkwood." Wesker smirked slightly. "I took the liberty of arranging that meeting to kill you, but since you survived, I might as well find out how and why the C-Virus failed."

"So you're just pissed that you're reliance on my genetic instability backfired?" Yuuki concluded, nodding as she noticed the shackle on her leg was a chain and a very concerning wire. He was keeping her in place with an electric shock threat... Fuck.

"That's a sound theory, but we won't know until the results come back from the sample we took from you." Wesker stood up from the folding chair he was sitting on and set it aside. "Try not to kill yourself with that shackle, alright? I'm sure you know what that cable is for."

"You're not going to live long enough to see those results." Yuuki snarled. She was certain that the tracking device on the ship's hull was still working, that battery would last a whole year.

"We shall see." Wesker replied as he walked out of her field of view.

* * *

"How long?" Chris asked over the radio to the pilot of the chopper. The man held up four fingers.

"Four minutes until we're in range!" Chris turned to the rest of Alpha Team, all in full gear. "Captain, how's the suit?"

"Ready for war." Tobias replied. He wasn't playing around anymore, he'd called all available BSAA teams in the region to LA, and within two hours, they were at the base, gearing up while he and the team leaders detailed the mission. Not only that, he had his T-60f Mobile Ordnance Platform at the ready, currently inside the humanoid tank. On his back was a cargo pod upgrade, inside of which was Yuuki's stuff in a kevlar duffel bag.

"All teams, this is Alpha-2, ETA four minutes, prep for mission. I repeat, prep for mission!"

The large group of V-22's were being escorted by an equal number of attack gunships, and far below, a dozen attack boats were closing in to control the water level while the aircraft carrier was attacked from the air by the gunships and several dozen VTOL fighter jets.

"Captain, you're our priority. Once you're on the deck, we'll follow afterwards. Did you call in any favours for this?"

"I called in three big ones." Tobias' helmet turned to Piers, who went pale for a moment.

"Do I even want to know?"

"Trust me... You don't." Tobias sighed, shaking his helmet back and forth. His favours for this weren't of the caliber they wanted to know about, let alone see in action.

* * *

"Sir, we've got aircraft and boats incoming... It's the BSAA." Krauser reported to Wesker, who nodded once.

"Open fire, and keep Darkwood off the ship at all costs. Without him, they're just soldiers."

"Got it." Krauser didn't need the reminder.

* * *

Yuuki felt the vibrations through her tank. Something was going on with the ship, and she smiled to herself.

* * *

The gunships and the ships many anti-aircraft defences played a deadly game of tag, but one V-22 managed to sneak through to briefly hover over the deck and drop off a huge metal capsule from the rear hatch before retreating to safety, and the soldiers on the deck readied their weapons at the capsule's BSAA logo.

Suddenly, the sound of music could be heard from inside, and they all knew the stories of that trick, so they began to back away. It was Subject Four.

"Subject Four is on the flight deck! I repeat..."

With a bang and increased volume to the music, the capsule broke apart, revealing the hulking black Power Armour with white skulls. The music was Ode to Joy, a drastic change from the old days, but nevertheless, it had an immediate impact on their morale.

Tobias grinned widely before he opened the gates of hell on the deck.

* * *

"Land at the bow to deploy troops, keep the deck secured at all costs." Tobias gave the orders as his last kill thudded to the deck. "I want Alpha team on my position for vanguard assault. I can't pinpoint her, but I can sense her general location."

"Copy that, Alpha leader." The V-22's had survived unscathed, so in fifteen minutes, all of the BSAA infantry were on the flight deck, which was under their total control.

"Can the T-60 still get around the interior, sir?" James asked as they grouped with him, all of the team's T-13's were deployed and ready.

"I have no need for it now, so I brought someone that's used it before." Tobias already spotted Natasha in tactical gear approaching. "It's been a while, Natasha."

"I should slap you for faking your death like that, sir." Natasha, his former housemaid, was still a strong independent woman, and not very pleased about his actions. She'd gone into the BSAA as an interrogation and psychological warfare specialist, acting from another base instead of the one that Tobias was stationed at. She was still the same woman, but had aged very gracefully for someone fast approaching fifty.

"You can beat me senseless later, I need someone as dominant as me to keep the deck under our control." Tobias opened up the suit and climbed out, in full gear with ALL of his weapons. Every single one of his own guns adorned his body and T-13, and he had a lot of ammo. "Yuuki's gonna need these, I'll carry it." He also opened the cargo pod and withdrew the bag before stepping aside to let Natasha climb into the T-60.

Once the armour was sealed, she gave him a nod before taking command of the deck, leaving the nine members of Alpha Team to hurry to the nearest bulkhead doors of the superstructure of the ship.


	43. Chapter 43

"I sense him."

Wesker smiled at her comment, coupled by her suddenly heightened alertness. "That's right, he's here. Do you sense the rest of them?"

"No."

"Hmm... a shame. You know what to do." Wesker nodded, leaving the room with HUNK at his side.

* * *

Tobias paused, he could sense another T-Virus presence aboard the ship, several decks below. Something was wrong, but it was still weak. Yuuki's presence was one deck down, and about a hundred feet ahead, so he focused on that for the meantime.

He kept pushing with his team, nothing would stop him, not even another B.O.W.

* * *

Yuuki could sense it too, so she slowly smiled as she had a brilliant idea. Sure, the shock shackle was the only thing holding her, but they forgot she controlled the water itself.

The build up of pressure on the glass only took about two minutes, but then it shattered outwards in a cascading rush of water and rough chunks.

With a quick slash from her claws, the cable was rendered useless, then she snapped the shackle and climbed out, awash with the sounds of combat and her full senses again.

"Gun first, clothes later." Yuuki commented to herself once her gills had sealed. She glanced at the metal door and smirked before charging head on and smashing right through it before the concerned guard on the other side opened it.

Slashing his throat and quickly grabbing a chunk of flesh in her mouth, she grabbed his SCAR-H rifle with dual-mags and ran off, her Scale Mail in full effect. She remembered Wesker gloating that her stuff wasn't far away, so she headed there first.

When she arrived at the guarded lockup, she quickly took the two guards down with the rifle and slammed her armoured foot into the door with all her strength. It caved in just enough for her to sling the rifle over her shoulder and pry it all the way open with her hands.

Inside on a table was Tarantula, her knife, and what remained of her clothing. It was better than nothing, so she geared up with her own stuff, ditched the rifle in favour of a pair of P90's from the nearby rack, then ran away to meet her father head on.

* * *

Tobias and Kevin (who had a large folding riot shield integrated to his T-13's arm) took the lead through the corridors until they heard a pair of approaching footsteps. They tensed for a soldier, but Tobias realized they were bare feet.

"Queen on deck! Hold it, it's me dad!" Yuuki called out before she'd reached the corner.

"I brought your stuff." Tobias patted Kevin's shoulder to stand down, then Yuuki came into view with a relieved smile.

"Good, 'cause I ruined my dress." Yuuki had blood on the shredded outfit from the soldiers she'd killed on the way, then ditched her nearly empty P90's in favour of the duffel bag. "Cover me while I get myself ready."

"Copy that." Tobias blocked her off with some ice walls, giving her the privacy to change into her clothing. They did indeed have a few stragglers try to attack them, but none got close to raising any concerns until Tobias heard Yuuki opening Lucky Lady's bolt and laughing slightly with amusement. He knew she was laughing at him fully loading it for her.

Removing the ice, she was ready. Her leather outfit, belts, holster bag, everything was ready to go, plus she had Tarantula, her USP Match, and both of her knives and plenty of ammo.

"How much you boys want to bet that the T-Virus I'm sensing below us is a clone of me?" Yuuki asked as she affixed her larger knife - Tobias' old one - into Lady's bayonet lug and locked it in place.

"He took a sample, didn't he?" Tobias sighed. "In that case, let's go deal with her. Move out!"

Yuuki fell into step with the soldiers, more than prepared to deal with the clone if it was hostile. But if it wasn't, she had an idea.

* * *

With a bang, the doors to the rear cargo bay were knocked open with a blast of Telekinetic energy, then swarmed by the team of soldiers while Yuuki and Piers hung back with their bolt action rifles, her with Lucky Lady and him with a UT-2015 chambered in .308.

"I know you're in here, I can sense you." Yuuki called as the soldiers secured the initial sweep of the cargo bay's entrance. It wasn't dark, but there were plenty of hiding spots, especially if the clone's Kakuja was active.

"I'm not a coward." Came the eerily identical accented reply as the clone's spider legs tinked up and over the other side of a shipping container. "That blonde prick in the sunglasses told me to kill you all, but I don't see the point."

"Hold fire!" Yuuki stopped her dad's raised assault rifle with a smack from her own. "You get a name yet? I know what you are... and who you are."

"Serafima." The clone replied. "Serafima Yuuki Darkwood."

Yuuki noticed the minor differences between them; Serafima had red eyes and a slightly shorter hairstyle, and her Kakuja's thorax had a red version of her logo. Other than that, there wasn't much to identify since her Scale Mail was active.

"Well, I have some news for you, sweetheart." Yuuki slowly stepped forward while lowering her rifle. "You're my twin sister, I'm Yuuki Serafima Darkwood."

"I figured as much." Serafima's Kakuja disintegrated behind her as she jumped down from the container to approach her twin. "I don't like being called a modified version of your name, so can you give me one different?"

"Rachael." Yuuki immediately replied. "Rachael Serafima Darkwood."

"Works for me." The newly named clone's eyes were exactly like Yuuki's, so she must've glanced down as she asked. "Gonna share?"

"Here, 13 shots in the mags." Yuuki handed over her USP Match and the spare ammo. "You got my memories?"

"For the most part." Rachael took the sidearm and clicked the safety off. "So I also got the general idea that the prick with the shades needs to die."

"You know where he's hiding?" Yuuki smirked, pleased that her gamble of a plan had paid off. She got a twin sister now.

"He was in the lab before bringing me here, so I'd say..." Rachael hummed in thought as she tucked the magazines into the pockets of the Neo-Umbrella uniform she was wearing. "He's planning to escape like a little bitch."

"We control the flight deck, and there's boats patrolling the water." Tobias replied. "How would he escape?"

"Dunno, all I know is he's a coward." Rachael knew that Tobias was her dad, so she just shrugged. "He's got two guys with him, one smells funny, and the other has no smell at all."

"Smells funny?" Yuuki was confused, but figured she meant HUNK and someone else. "Oh, hey! HUNK didn't really have any scent when he attacked me! Why the hell does that seem so familiar?"

"He's full prosthetic, like Motoko." Tobias replied, nodding. "Should've known he'd do that."

"Fuck it, he's still gonna die." Yuuki and Rachael spoke at the same time, which made Tobias smirk.

 _"Absolutely."_

* * *

Wesker, HUNK and Krauser had managed to keep clear of the conflict, but they knew that getting off the ship was next to impossible. But Wesker had a very expensive failsafe.

"Have the orbital strike system target the ship once we get to the flight deck. It's about time that we completely ended the Darkwood legacy."

"It'll be ready to fire in ten minutes." HUNK immediately reported after his cyberbrain did the preparations. "So this is the end, huh?"

"Not if things turn out the way I want." Wesker replied with a smile.

* * *

Tobias, his two daughters and his team returned to the flight deck to restock their supplies, noticing Natasha in the T-60 had the deck in flawless control. Corpses and weapons were in separate piles, and Neo-Umbrella aircraft that survived were on total lockdown.

But, there was a certain group of infamous Ghouls gathered near the armoured woman... and that made Yuuki smile upon catching sight of a very angry Jake beside her uncle.

 _"YUUKI!"_

They both ran into each other's arms, kissing each other happily.

"I have a clone now, she's not a bad one either. Twin fuckin' sister." Yuuki explained as Jake's face lit up with his question. "I named her Rachael, but seriously, what are you doing here?!"

"Like I'd miss killing my dad. Are you nuts?" Jake spotted the twin and smiled at her slightly modified appearance. "I'm Jake, you must be Rachael."

"I know, I have most of her memories." Rachael nodded, then turned her head to a nearby cargo elevator. She'd felt the approaching vibrations, as did Yuuki and Tobias. "GET CLEAR! THE CARGO ELEVATOR'S OPENING!"

All of them got prepared for an attack, readying weapons as the flat doors slid open to reveal the trio of men they'd been after.

"OH, FOR FUCK SAKE!" Yuuki wasn't the only one pissed about Wesker's cocky smirk as the elevator came to a halt. Jake was the one yelling at Wesker. "WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM, OLD MAN!? DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH OR SOMETHING?!"


	44. Chapter 44

"I understand your allegiances, Jacob. So I don't expect you to understand me anymore." Wesker smiled at his son, then noticed Rachael nearby. "And you seem to be of similar circumstances, clone."

"Go fuck yourself." Rachael wasn't falling for his taunt, she just whipped Yuuki's gun up and fired at him, causing every single hypertense soldier to do the same.

In an instant, Wesker, HUNK and Krauser separated. HUNK vanished with what was almost certainly Therm-Optic camoflauge while Wesker dashed at high speed right for Rachael, only to stop and dodge the pair of Kagune that were aimed at him. Krauser launched up onto a nearby jet, his arm mutating into a wing-like set of blades and spikes.

"Class one, limb mutation confirmed!" A BSAA soldier called out. "Melee format, left arm!"

"SOMEONE CATCH THAT COWARDLY CYBORG!" Yuuki and Rachael somehow had perfect combat synergy, holding Wesker at bay with their Kagune's while trying to shoot him with their guns. "HE'S GOT THERM-OPTIC CAMO!"

"Leave that to me!" Serenity grinned as she disappeared from sight, already catching sight of the tell tale light distortion.

The all out carnage lasted for several minutes, only until HUNK was caught trying to sneak up on Tobias from behind. Serenity made quick work of him with her Kagune, tearing out his cyberbrain with her bare hands.

"Gotcha, you sneaky bastard! You're not surviving this time!" She smashed the braincase over her knee with a grin, then decided a certain asymmetrical soldier needed an... artist's touch. A proudly _yandere_ artist, that is...

"Albert! HUNK's gone!" Krauser saw Serenity coming and blocked her surprise attack, locking into a deadly melee with the woman while dodging bullets from the soldiers. "Fuck!"

"That doesn't matter anymore, we've already won." Wesker smirked as Tobias' infamous revolvers rended through the chaotic sound. He effortlessly dodged the shots, still drawing out the battle that would quickly come to an end. HUNK had already set the orbital strike to fire and kill them all before getting caught.

"Oh, you mean this thing, right?"

The gunfire stopped, and everyone froze as the tall pillar of metal levitated several inches in front of Tobias' smirking face.

"Yeah, a good try, but you forget how sensitive my hearing REALLY is, Wesker." Tobias knew what the 30 foot long metal rod was for. It was an orbital kinetic bombardment projectile, made of pure tungsten. "And that I'm Telekinetic."

"FUCK!" Wesker snarled with rage, his plan in utter ruins. He had nothing! No escape, no backup plan! Nothing! This _was_ his failsafe, and it fucking _FAILED_!

"Girls, you mind taking over on this one? You'll see what I mean..." Tobias' glance at Sere was all she needed to take Krauser's head off from behind. "When I shove this up your ass where it belongs, Wesker."

With a sudden grunt, Wesker was hauled into the air by Alice's much more powerful Telekinesis, and true to his word, Tobias aimed the foot wide rod right up Wesker's ass and through the top of his head, impaling him with his own weapon.

"We'll take it from here, dad." Yuuki and Rachael suddenly got a brilliant idea at the same time, then began ditching their gear and clothes, which made Tobias smile proudly.

"I'll hang onto this while you two jump into the water." He had to admit, their plan was interesting, especially since Wesker didn't seem to understand the part about staying dead.

"I'll... kill you..."

"Shut the _fuck_ up!" Jake didn't even let Wesker have the satisfaction. He shot his dad right in the head, then pulled out his wallet and phone that had survived the overkill impalement. "You owe me so fucking much, jackass, I'm just gonna take what I please."

"Alright, toss him overboard!" Yuuki and Rachael yelled together as they dove into the water, quickly followed by the tungsten rod. "This is for all your crap, and it's very personal." Wesker was just beginning to revive before they dove under with it, causing him to start drowning.

It took a long time, but they guided the rod with their Hydrokinesis to an underwater volcano, sending Wesker's retarded revival regeneration into a perpetual cycle of 'fuck you'. The clusterfuck of physics would leave him in a permanent state of revival, drowning and revival, but the heat and deeply impaled rod would prevent him from ever escaping. It was a fitting end for him.

"Time to go home... we've finally won." Yuuki and Rachael shared a brief moment of eye contact before both of them grabbed the other by the shoulders and passionately kissed each other, far from any prying paparrazzi, sharing a beautiful and intimate moment together nearly ten kilometers under the Pacific Ocean.

* * *

"We at the BSAA had conducted a covert investigation into reports of a bioterrorism organization calling themselves Neo-Umbrella. Over the course of our investigation, we tracked and successfully killed three, plus captured another one of known bioterrorism targets, Ricardo Irving, Albert Wesker, Jack Krauser and HUNK, otherwise known as Mr. Death." Jill gave the official, televised press conference the prepared speech, flanked by the investigation's key members on both sides. "In addition, after the unfortunate capture of miss Yuuki Darkwood earlier this week, we have forcibly seized their flagship aircraft carrier, and safely and properly decommissioned the vessel, to prevent further risk of biological contamination or revival of the organization from as of yet hidden or unconfirmed members."

Yuuki was among those behind Jill, and she had a very nice view of Jill's ass in her business skirt. Until she stepped away from the podium, Yuuki wasn't complaining about a damn thing.

"Now, the media is permitted to ask questions, which shall be answered by any of the personnel you see here, including myself." Jill had nothing more to say, so she stepped back to let the government representative select the reporters with questions, much to Yuuki's disappointment about losing her glorious view.

"To Captain Tobias, is it true that your involvement in the Eastern Europe bioterror events earlier this year are tied to this investigation?"

Tobias stepped up to the podium in full formal BSAA military uniform, like the other BSAA soldiers onstage. "That is correct, including the events in Europe revolving around my rumoured death, the investigation into Neo-Umbrella is directly involved in that incident." He stepped away as another reporter was chosen, holding up a notebook.

"To Mr. Muller, are the rumours about your father being the late Albert Wesker true? What does this mean for you now that you're an orphan?"

Jake smirked as he stood at the podium, waiting several seconds before speaking.

"That man has never put forth the necessary efforts into being a father, and as such, yes, the rumours about him being my father are true. As for your second question, I'm not an orphan. I've been given the prestigious honour of being an honourary Darkwood. I see no changes in my life, nor my future. In fact, I was the one that dealt the killing gunshot to him."

The reporters clammered to get him to speak again, but he stepped back from the podium and nobody onstage moved until order was returned. One reporter was chosen, and it seemed they were an entertainment reporter rather than mainstream media.

"To Miss Yuuki and Miss Rachael Darkwood, do you have any comments about the change in your fame as an internet celebrity, and, does Rachael's apparently clone origins have any merit on you?"

The two sisters briefly shared a glance before approaching the podium. Yuuki spoke first.

"No, nothing changes."

Rachael spoke next. "No, I don't consider myself a clone."

Then, they both spoke together in very eerie harmony as their Kakugan's formed in all twelve of their eyes. "And your comment was incredibly offensive, so we highly suggest you start running... Right _now_."


	45. Chapter 45

Rachael's body was an exact replica of Yuuki's, save for three things: Her red eyes, slightly shorter hair (still the same sparkling silver though) and her tattoos. Rachael's colours were inverted, so the normally black flame, white snowflake, red spider and silver webs were actually white, black, blue and dull gray respectively. Otherwise, perfect matches.

So, after some changes to The Spider Web and Yuuki's bedroom, Rachael was welcomed with open arms. Her account's profile icon on the Web was a blue version of the infamous spider logo, and the name, The Sister Queen, had all of Yuuki's power, plus the blue logo was how she marked _her_ Queen's Bites. Yuuki's was on the left side of whatever they'd Bitten, while hers was on the right. Aside from a few mutually liked items or themes, she had her own tastes that differed from her sister.

Oh, and she also had the same custom rig that formed Big Bertha, right beside Yuuki's. Only difference was that hers wasn't named Big Bertha, she called it Massive Max, and she had the name on a sticker just like her twin.

The advantages of being a clone meant that she shared Yuuki's wardrobe, albeit with certain pieces lacking the red bits in favour of blue ones. They also had bunkbeds, which she'd claimed the top bunk... Officially. Most nights she just fell asleep in Yuuki's arms on the bottom bunk, like the little sister she knew that she was.

"I got two Bulldozers coming up the stairs, you take the green one." Rachael called out to her sister, who had the Thanatos .50 cal as her primary weapon. She herself had a CAR-4 assault rifle, which she was unloading into the black Dozer in the front.

With an almighty blast, Yuuki fired at the weaker Dozer, waiting for the bolt action rifle to rechamber before firing again to finish it off. "Got mine, c'mon, you slow piece of shit! Yes!"

She fired again, hearing the approaching sound of a Cloaker behind them. "Cloaker at the bottom, can you see it?"

"No, he's around the corner. I'll risk it, get ready." Rachael reloaded before charging headlong down the stairs to locate and taunt the Cloaker into her sister's line of fire, crouching as the Cloaker flew over her head in an attempt to kick her.

BOOM!

With perfect precision, Yuuki killed the Cloaker as it landed behind Rachael's back, hearing that oh-so-adorable line from Sokol, her chosen heister. "Call me the Cloaker smoker!"

"Don't even!" Rachael already knew Yuuki was about to say it, but she didn't bother trying to stop her as she sang out.

"I ship it like motherfuckin' _Fedex_!" Yuuki didn't care, since Rachael played as Clover, and they were also rather open about their incestuous relationship. "So _fuck you_ , this was a thing pretty much since the Web started!"

"I _AM_ YOU!" Came the immediate reply as Rachael grabbed the loot bag that Yuuki threw to her and they both ran through a blistering hail of bullets, jumping Cloakers and video game cops to the escape van as it arrived, successfully ending their latest co-op heist together. "Fuck, how many Cloakers was that at the end? I saw at least four."

"Yeah, definitely at least four." Yuuki smiled at the chat's enjoyment of their banter and bickering. "Oh, someone in chat saw another one crawling out from under a car, so there was five."

"Are we gonna do something in stealth next? Nah, I wanna do a speedrun of an Overkill Firestarter." Rachael stretched her arms over her head as she answered the heist request. "Murky Station on Overkill without killing anyone? Isn't that an achievement?"

"No, it's steal all loot on Overkill. No kills can be done on any difficulty." Yuuki was the host of the game lobby, so she got the heist ready, then switched her build and weapons for the three part heist. "I'm ready, are we stealing or burning the bags?"

"Which ever is closer." Rachael was also ready, reaching over to her sister's mouse and starting the heist. "Yeah, it's all depending on spawns." She answered a person's comment in chat before sitting upright. "What's our record again? Three minutes for day one?"

"Something like that, maybe a bit less." Yuuki replied, briefly reflecting on life with a twin sister. Sure, she still had Jake and Sherry, but there was just... something about have a sister that she really enjoyed. "If Jake and Sherry weren't on Widow duty, we could probably do it in under two minutes."

"In theory." Jake's stream message dinged on their respective second monitors at the same time. "But like you said, it's depending on the spawns."

With that, they both loaded into the heist and charged forward, ending with very good spawns - and the lowest required loot bags possible - and ended Day 1 with a time of 2:49, easily a new record for them.

"Slowpokes." Tabitha commented as they prepared for the second day, which was stealthable, but they were rushing it loud. "If you weren't wearing any armour, you'd easily have shaved off a good fifteen seconds."

"Fuck Dodge builds, they suck." Rachael and Yuuki both used a hybrid build to balance speed and defence but still able to move quickly without dying immediately when hit. "Crook deck is best deck."

"Muscle's better." Yuuki replied, once again hauling ass to the objective with her sister hot on her heels with two Saws to tear open the few doors in their way. "So much health, plus regen every 5 seconds, and crowd control too."

"Good point." Rachael nodded in agreement as they already tripped the alarm without a concern.

* * *

By the end of the Payday 2 stream - their speedrun of that Firestarter totalled to 23 minutes and 44 seconds - both of them were pleased by the high octane adventures around the game, but decided that changing things over to a chatstream would be a better choice than just ending it all on such a high note.

"Alright Spiderlings, it's a chatstream now, we're done stealing shit." Yuuki switched the stream's music playlist - which also had Rachael's punk rock music mixed in - as they finally let out sighs of relief.

"So now let's just shoot the shit, chill out and slow down." Rachael was also powering down. The game was fun, but it sometimes got to be a bit much for both of them.

"Captain on deck!" Both of them suddenly shared a glance as their father's sign in soundfile - a military one that ended with the sounds of soldiers standing at attention and had a little saluting soldier animation on the stream's feed - played out.

"Rachael, I've got a gift for you. Do you want to open it on the stream, or would that cause too much excitement?" Tobias' message dinged in, so they both hummed in thought.

"He's not wrong..." Rachael admitted, biting her thumbnail in consideration. "Is it a big one?"

"Yes, but not like Yuuki's goodie box stream." Tobias replied. "Just one item."

"Vote?" Yuuki suggested, noticing that the chat was thinking the same thing. "Alright, alright, vote for opening the gift now or tomorrow. Sixty seconds, yes or no as criteria... ready..."

"Set..." Rachael spoke next, then together they said. "GO!"

After the full minute, the chat locked down and after a full thirty seconds, the single result comment popped in.

"Alright, alright, I'll open it. Fuckin' hell that's a lot." Rachael didn't even argue. The margin was more than 80/20 in favour of opening the gift from their dad. "Dad, c'mon up, I hope it's a good one." She unlocked the chat (which now had an animation of spiderwebs covering it when it was locked up) and heard him coming up the stairs through the partially opened door.

"I got the room cam." Yuuki switched the stream's feed over to a new camera that was aimed to get nearly their whole room in the frame. Tobias knocked and pushed it open as his daughters both got up from their long desk to stare at the long box in his arms. "I'm suspicious... But I'm not sure if it's what I think it is..."

He smiled, saying nothing as Rachael took it from him and carefully laid it in the general floorspace.

"Let's see what we've got in here..." She didn't waste time with a speech, she tore the top off with aid of her claws and saw that there were two long, hard plastic cases inside. "Hey! You said there was only one!"

"I lied." Tobias grinned. He knew, and didn't feel ashamed. "They're both for you, Rachael."

Rachael pulled the exterior box apart and tossed the scraps aside to open the clasps of the top box, well aware that the stream's chat was making suggestions on the possible contents. "First one is..." She lifted the lid and her eyes widened with surprise. It was her own rifle, just like Yuuki's Lucky Lady... but not the same type. "A rifle... What kind of rifle is this?" She extracted it and could tell that it bore similar upgrades to Lucky Lady; ebony wood, Quinque steel, a stock mounted ammo pouch, good scope and military grade shoulder strap, plus a bayonet lug (she received the bigger of Yuuki's knives, the one from their dad) for her knife.

"This... is an M1 Garand. Rechambered to .308 just like Lucky Lady, and it has similar, if not identical modifications. Only difference is that it's not named. That's your job." Tobias explained, well aware that the chat was losing their minds over the possibility of making more gun porn. "The other box is your other gun, the one that you mentioned on your first stream with Yuuki."

Rachael nearly dropped her rifle from the excitement. She knew what he was talking about, and she launched into her father's chest with three languages worth of gratitude.

"Now I know you're not choosing favourites, I'm well aware that I've been buying my own guns." Yuuki joked as her twin hurriedly shouldered her Garand to get inside the second case. "But god damn, slow down before you make her explode!"

The chat didn't seem to recall the passing comment about the gun that Rachael wanted - it had been hard to hear at the time due to a thunderstorm - but it was obvious that she _really_ wanted it. The moment she opened the case, her face seemed to light up with the sun's own glow.

"Fuck, that's a sexy gun." Yuuki was amazed at the similarily themed gun that Rachael was almost drooling over. It was Quinque Steel like their rifles, with ebony furniture and high quality upgrades, including a tactical laser sight, folding bipod, integrated vertical grip in the foregrip and a combat optic that was both a scope and a close ranged sight, plus a hefty shoulder strap. "RPD or RPK?"

"D." Tobias replied, which was the exact model Rachael wanted. "Just like you wanted, my Princess."

Rachael's face was nearly as scarlet as her eyes. Princess was his cute little nickname for her, like how Yuuki was his Yuki-onna, which was snow fairy. She wanted to cry, but her eyes didn't seem to respond the way she wanted, so she just hugged him again without a word.

* * *

Rachael chose to name her rifle Ping, and her RPD was named Dakka by the stream chat after she spent several hours unable to come up with a worthy name. Of course, she still had Yuuki's USP Match as her pistol, but she didn't bother naming it. Sure, it was special to her, but not enough to name it. Both of them eventually returned Serenity's Jetfire since they couldn't share such a tiny pistol, and of course, Yuuki spurred herself into spending the rest of her reward money on her own automatic weapon, which was due to arrive...

"It's here, good." She got up from her chair and smiled at Rachael's machine gun cradled lovingly in her arms. "Keep your pants on while I'm gone, alright?" She teased her twin as she left, earning a very annoyed 'fuck off!' as she descended the stairs to open the front door.

"Yuuki Darkwood?" The Fedex courier had her box on a dolly, holding the clipboard for her to sign.

"Yep, thank you very much, sir." Yuuki signed before snatching the box with an excited glint in all of her eyes as she went back inside and closed the door with her foot.

"I got my gun~! I got my gun~!" Yuuki couldn't help but chant in a singsong voice as she returned to her computer, causing Rachael to mimic her little tune.

"I got mine first~! I got mine..."

SMACK!

Yuuki didn't care right now, but the chat clearly liked the resounding sound of her slapping the back of her sister's head for mocking her.

"Now we both had full-auto guns, so shut the hell up!" She didn't even give a speech to the stream as she tore the carboard apart and extracted the carrying case, popping the clasps opened and flipping the lid to reveal Calyptica, her M4a2 assault rifle, which of course, was tricked the fuck out with all the parts and attachments she wanted on it, including the same scope as Dakka - apparently it was called a HAMR scope - and the red spider on key places, plus the gun's name on the sides of the foregrip, receiver and stock. "It's an M4a2, I had to spend the rest of my reward money from Hector Moralez for all the parts and the gun itself."

"How much is left after this?" Yuuki wasn't surprised that was the next question. "Well, I made sure this time to keep my special purchase separate... So including buying the special package that's coming next week, I have two hundred and four dollars leftover from Hector's gang's reward money. Which is going straight to paying for our date with Jake and Sherry on Saturday." She indicated Rachael, who was just as curious as the chat.

"What's the special package?" Rachael didn't know about the purchase, since Yuuki had done it on her own.

"That... isn't for the stream. I'll unbox it live, yeah, but I ain't sayin' shit this time." Yuuki shook her head as she checked Calyptica's chamber with a racheting sound. "Rangetime or should we wait out the rain that's coming in?"

"Let's wait." Rachael didn't mind waiting for the storm to pass. She had Dakka and her twin to keep her happy. Only thing she'd need right now was a coffee, but that could wait a few minutes.

* * *

 **A/N: Guess what? This is the official ending of the story. I've got an Epilogue as I always do, plus a surprise bonus scene after that. I am currently debating on whether or not to make this the ending of the Darkwood series (Silence being the first of course) or if I should make it a trilogy... If I do, it'll probably be a while before I even start writing it.**


	46. Epilogue

After a busy week of streaming, cameras for Darkwood, dating Jake and Sherry, and trying - and loving - their new guns, Rachael and Yuuki barely had enough strength left to flop into their computer chairs.

"Think we got enough gas left in us for a lazy chatstream?" Yuuki suggested, making the leather of her pants and the chair creak a bit as she slid her hips forward and reached behind her back to remove her knife.

"You start it." Rachael shrugged, likewise out of steam.

A few minutes later, after a drink of water each, they had the stream up and running, already announced with 'lazy chatstream, we've had a long day. Not gaming today.'

"That sounds like it's worth a read..." Yuuki commented aloud, a story catching her eye among some new fanfics. "You see this one yet?" She pointed at her monitor for Rachael, who scanned the summary before shaking her head.

"Sounds like it's worth a read, but nah, it's new to me too." Rachael sat back in her chair, checking through the recent mixed porn influx of herself, their guns, and their most recent playthrough of a romantic visual novel's numerous storylines, Katawa Shoujo. "That's a nice Hanako piece..." She Bit it for herself as she spoke, really enjoying the way she was portrayed. "Not my waifu Shizune, but still a damn good piece."

"I actually like hearing how I'm doing during sex, you can keep Shit-zune. Drills too, fuck that." Yuuki didn't even bother checking the piece, she'd find it in the Bites later. Drills was the nickname they'd given to a character named Misha, who had bright pink hair and dual ringlets in the shape of drills.

"Shut up..." Rachael's cheeks went pink at the subtle teasing about her sounds during their frequent sex.

"I wasn't teasing you, chill." Yuuki knew she'd gotten her, so she didn't feel sorry. "Shizune's just not on the same level as Lilly and Hanako, in my mind."

Several people in chat agreed with her, but just as many kept things neutral by saying everyone had their favourites and not to argue.

"Well, we're arguing, so I don't care if you compare the girls in Katawa Shoujo." Yuuki added after reading the neutral comments. "But if you say you like Kenji, I will kick you from the whole Web, you got that?!" She pointed at her camera sternly. "Hm? Oh, I'm not sure, let me check." One of the chat mentioned that How-Not-To-Do-Something had just uploaded a new set of stories, asking if she'd seen them yet.

"Ooooooh, he's a fast little bastard!" Yuuki was pleased by the new stories, including the pairings. "I didn't ask that long ago for these, and I'm pretty sure it was an open request for all writers."

She opened all of the new ones in separate tabs on her second monitor, leaving the stream on the other, then sat back to read them in the order they were uploaded.

Rachael, who knew enough about the author from Yuuki's memories, could tell that she was very pleased by what she was reading. She was clenching her legs together and moved her eyebrows quite expressively until she gave it a Queen's Bite and moved onto the next ones in rapid succession, Biting them all until she spotted the author himself in chat.

"Okay, seriously, I want to meet you in person so I can really thank you. You're a fuckin' genius, and I am really fuckin' horny right now, like holy shit what are you doing to me?" Yuuki wasn't lying, nor was she ashamed to admit how turned on she was by the new stories, which included humanoid versions of all their new guns - Rachael insisted that hers were both female, but she didn't mind genderbending them - and of course, Calyptica was female, but Yuuki insisted that she was also a well hung futanari, so that seemed to really open up the floodgates for the porn influx.

 _Clearly I'm pleasing my Red Queen. Should I stop?_ The cheeky reply made Rachael giggle as Yuuki hastily denied it.

"No, no, don't you dare stop! I'll make sure to announce the new depictions as official designs, I just can't think straight right now, you crafty bastard!" Yuuki was practically squirming in her chair now, so Rachael did the honours of making the announcement on the homepage after Biting the new stories for herself.

"I got it, just try not to ruin those pants. I wear them too, y'know." Rachael reminded her sister, who was a bit distracted by a new comment from their favourite writer.

 _I would apologize for that, but since it's completely intentional, I'll just leave you to suffer, my Red Queen._

"You little prick." Yuuki laughed slightly, trying to ignore her raging libido as she mentally shook herself and returned to her computer screen.

Rachael could see her sister's steadily failing willpower as they chatted for another half an hour with the stream, so Rachael made a snap decision and gestured her hand to her neck in a cutting motion before ending the stream entirely, which Yuuki didn't notice for a few seconds until the music stopped.

"What happ..." She turned to Rachael in confusion, expecting a similar look of confusion, only find her twin's hands pulling her upright and into a loving kiss.

Sure, it was a surprise, but that wore off as she felt the sympathy that Rachael was giving off. She knew that the stories got her worked up, so she was helping her get the release she needed.

"'Kay, those stories are really worth that read..." Yuuki's cheeks and face were flushed with intense arousal, and Rachael's teasing smile seemed to convey her comment before she said it.

"Thanks, Cap'n Obvious, I'll keep that in mind for after I fuck your brains out." She shoved her older sister onto the bed, then dove on top of her with a pleased humming sound. "I saw you sneak one of the packages out of the box with our dresses yesterday, so you mind telling me what it was?"

"Not yet, too horny." Yuuki dismissed her twin by grabbing Rachael's short shorts and pulling them down her legs while Rachael herself slid her hand around Yuuki's back for the clasps of her corset. "Oh, you're wearing those ones?" She was pleased to see Rachael was wearing the pair that Jake always teased her about from the night before they'd killed Hector and his gang. The black bikini pair with strings on the hips.

"I already know you've got the thong, smartass." Rachael tossed Yuuki's corset aside before going after her single belt - the studded leather one - at her waist.

"And you're the idiot wearing a bra." Yuuki countered, lifting up Rachael's t-shirt to reveal that Rachael actually didn't mind wearing a bra, which she'd bought a few of the day after the Carrier Incident, as it was named. Yuuki's hatred for them meant she was free to choose them however she wanted, and this one just happened to be a lacy black one to contain their matching notorious C-cup racks.

"Nee-san doesn't like my underwear?" Rachael quickly adopted a very cute - but very mocking - voice that she'd perfected early on in the span of a few days. She called it her Imouto voice, and she could speak both English and Japanese with it, but not Russian. Of course, she said that comment in English while sticking out her lower lip to pout.

"I'd like it a lot fucking better if it was on the floor right now, you little shit!" Yuuki quickly reached around to pop the clasp open, then pulled it off Rachael's arms and tossed it aside. "See? Much better!"

They both made quick work of each other's remaining clothes, until with a quick tug of the strings, Rachael's panties were sent to the floor while she licked and suckled on Yuuki's boobs with adorable little cooing and humming sounds.

Yuuki didn't like playing the sub - at all - during sex, but Rachael was fine as she was for now. It wasn't hard to figure out that she knew how best to touch and pleasure Yuuki from literally being a copy of her. But her slightly different personality made sure she wasn't a total mirror of her sister either.

"Y'know, I've never really understood just how sexy having six solidly glowing eyes really was." Yuuki commented between panting breaths as her twin toyed with her neck, ribs and tits. "The fan art certainly doesn't do us justice, that's for sure... _hah_!" She faltered as Rachael used her nails - not her claws - to scratch Yuuki's skin. It sent a jolt through her needy body that was definitely worth the interruption.

"You talk too much for someone having sex." Rachael briefly removed her mouth from Yuuki's raging nipples to speak, letting her nails continue to sharply trail down her sister's tensed abdomen and over the extensions of her hip's web tattoos.

Of course, the sensation wasn't letting Yuuki make a witty comeback, she was gasping and trying to, but words were failing her until Rachael penetrated her needy slit with one finger... Then she found her voice.

"Fuckin' hell!" Yuuki tensed up, but her body didn't linger on resisting the intrusion for more than a few seconds. She wanted release, and that felt _so_ damn good. "Mmph!"

Rachael briefly licked Yuuki's nipple to shut her up, but moved upwards to lock herself into an intense tongue duel with her older sister, who happily took the challenge.

Both of them weren't bothering to keep their moaning quiet, the internet could tell that they frequently fucked each other into near-coma's, and it was true. It was an unspoken rule that whoever lost consciousness first had to clean up the aftermath, which was usually their room as a whole.

Of course, Yuuki finally flipped them over so that she was on top, reaching into the small gap between her bunk and the wall, producing the unopened package she'd hidden from the box with their two chinese style dresses - remade from her destroyed prom dress in red and blue, respectively.

"Now you want to know what it is?" Yuuki sliced the end off with her index claw and tilted the rectangular box to slide a silver cylinder out. "Hang on, one more piece."

She shook the other part out, which was a similarly designed box, and held up the two objects in each hand after tossing the packaging aside. "It's a strap on, for you, me and Sherry. And Stella, once I decide to drag her fabulous booty onto a bed."

"Can't we stick it up Jake's ass whenever he's being a smartass?" Rachael was excited about the sex toy, so she helped her sister open the cases, letting her be the one to wear it... this time.

"Not really worth the effort, honestly. Besides, being some sort of ass runs in his family. He's the smartass, his dad's the jackass, and I think our little dildo here pales in comparison to the epic anal fuck that we gave Wesker." Yuuki replied, getting the purple dildo secured between her legs before all twelve of their Kakugans formed in perfect unison.

Rachael groaned happily as Yuuki shoved the excellently sized and shaped phallus inside of her awaiting slit. It was amazing, and filled her just right, not too big or small. And of course, it was her older sister on the other end, so she was in total bliss as Yuuki took control of the thrusting.

Moaning and gasping without pause, Rachael linked her wrists around Yuuki's neck, letting their boobs mash together in rhythm to the thrusts, awash with the pleasuring waves coursing through their bodies.

"C'mon, I want more!" She managed to taunt her sister, unfortunately at the wrong moment, because the next thing that happened was her face hitting the pillow and the strap-on being disappointingly withdrawn from her pussy.

She didn't have a chance now that she was facedown with her ass up. One tiny little moment to bite down on the pillow before the dildo was forced right into her ass all the way to the hilt.

Yuuki was extremely aroused by the sudden change, the dominance coupled by the amazing position and view was making her own entrance drip quim down the inside of her legs, but she didn't care about that compared to the adorable sounds of Rachael's - declining - discomfort about the sudden anal.

"Surprise!" Yuuki flattened her tits over Rachael's inverted shoulder tattoos as she whispered into her ear with a sadistic grin. "Butt sex!"

Rachael groaned loudly into the pillow as Yuuki began to withdraw for the first thrust, her hands clenching tightly around the bedsheets as Yuuki paused for just a moment before slamming her hips into Rachael's ass, making her awesome buttcheeks (one of the very few places that their attractively thick bodies didn't have pure muscles, but wasn't distastefully fatty either, but perfect jiggly goodness like their boobs) quake with the force of the first of many impacts.

She was breathing hard through her nose, not willing to admit defeat. Sure it hurt, but she'd still called her sister on, but she wasn't going to let her win by any means.

Once they got a not painful rhythm going, Rachael slowly got over the discomfort, the pleasure rising and falling in sync with the thrusting. She knew she was drooling, for sure, but she had no idea that she had a dopey sex face with her tongue hanging out and her Kakugan were partially rolled back into her head. On top of all that, she was moaning and gasping in utter bliss.

Yuuki, of course, was gripping her sister's hips with both hands, their body's rocked by the heady daze of sexual pleasure. She wasn't about to climax yet, but the sensory overload was certainly getting her there. All of her senses save for taste were being assaulted at the same time, and she loved it.

With a sudden movement, she changed their positioning so that Rachael was riding her while sitting on the edge of the bunk, carefully done so neither hit their head on the upper frame. Of course, it was done without interrupting their rhythm, so Yuuki kept a firm grip on Rachael's hips while the younger twin immediately started masturbating furiously with one hand, the other gripping the overhead frame to keep themselves secure.

That meant her moaning was unmuffled now, but it was quickly silenced by Yuuki reaching under her raised arm and turning her mouth to connect with her own from over Rachael's back, then reaching across her chest to grope and fondle her boob.

Having her sister in such sexual bliss was overloading Yuuki's brain with the olfactory, gustatory, tactile, auditory and optical bombardment, she was almost ready to cum, and judging my the sounds from Rachael, so was she.

They both worked into that final tipping point with increased vigor, until that one missing piece happened in perfect timing... They both bit each other's lower lip with one of their fangs, filling their mouths and tongues with the sharp sweet-sour taste and subtle but distinctive smell of their shared Tyrant-Chrysalis Virus blood.

With hefty groans, they finally tensed up as their bodies were overloaded with their simultaneous climaxes, which left them twitching and shaking for several long, luxurious moments until they both collapsed onto their sides on the bunk, spooning each other as Yuuki removed the dildo from Rachael's ass.

Rachael groaned as it came out, too exhausted to complain about losing that intimate physical connection to her sister or about the slight pinch of discomfort. She just laid there, already fading into sleep with Yuuki holding her from behind.

"I swear... I'm gonna get you... back... for that." She barely formed the threat before she was out cold. She didn't hear Yuuki's amused chuckle less than six inches away.

"Don't keep me waiting, _Onee-chan_."


	47. Bonus Scene

**A/N: This is the short little bonus scene I came up with when I couldn't sleep after I finished writing the Epilogue. And yes, it is canon to the storyline of Silence and Yuki-Onna, which I now affectionately refer to as the Darkwood series.**

* * *

"I've never seen such a big hole in the ground..." Both Yuuki and Rachael were very stunned by perfectly smooth circle that sank down into a deep valley that filled even their widened six eyed vision. "And to be fair, the ocean's got some big valleys... Just... wow."

"Compliments of Uncle Sam's lovely 5 Mega tonne nuke." Tobias stood beside them, his barely lined face grimly showing signs of his age for the first time in his life. By no means was he old, but he had turned 35 just two weeks earlier. "I know it's hard to imagine a city once stood here, but it's a dark reminder to the whole world about the lingering threats of bioterrorism and the T-Virus that will now forever identify our family name."

"Now that's a bit too dark for your daughters, isn't it, Tobias?"

The teasing voice behind them almost made Tobias go for his gun, but when he spotted Koko Heckmatyar and her whole crew of bodyguards, he relaxed. Of course, his daughters had no idea who she was, so he turned his head towards them and introduced the arms dealer.

"Rachael, Yuuki, this is Koko Heckmatyar, she's a ballistics weapon dealer mostly centered in Europe and Africa. Koko, these are my daughters, Rachael and Yuuki." He indicated the twins with his hand, to which the white haired woman barely into her forties smile at the six eyed twins with a gleam in her eyes.

"I see they take more after their mother." Nevertheless, she shook their hands in turn. "So, coming back to where it all began... I presume it's the first time you girls have seen the crater?"

"Yeah, hard to imagine life before our dad and Wesker started fighting." Yuuki sighed as she turned back to stare at the huge hole for a moment. "Let alone how it all escalated into using a nuke..."

"Have you ever heard of Jormungand?" Koko asked curiously, to which the twins shook their heads. "He's the World Serpent in Norse mythology, and no matter how hard he desires to, he cannot reach the sky. He can devour the land and drain the seas, but without hands, legs or wings, the vast sky alone remains out of his reach." She smiled at the growing smirk on Tobias' face behind them before continuing. "Your father called me before that ship incident in the Pacific... I owed him a big favour, and I let him in on a secret project of mine, which of course I'd named Jormungand."

"The kinetic strike system, right?" Rachael asked, noticing the slight glance that the silver haired, red eyed boy at her side gave the woman. He barely looked in his early to mid twenties, kinda cute but easily the youngest of Koko's group of men and one very busty woman with an eyepatch. "You knew about the thing's existence, didn't you?"

"That's right. I was the one that told him about it's specifications and the tungsten's flight time from orbit, and even described the whistling sound that gave it away before impact. That's how he anticipated it's arrival during that showdown with Wesker and his men." Koko was very pleased, having heard through some reliable contacts that spoke to witnessing soldiers on the ship about Tobias' use of Telekinesis to stop the speeding projectile dead in it's tracks mere inches from his nose. "So how'd you two finish him off at the bottom of the ocean? Nobody's gotten you two to speak about it."

"Well..." Yuuki glanced at Rachael, who nodded. "Don't tell anyone... But Wesker's not dead. He's in a literal cycle of ' _fuck you_ ' that he can't escape from. We made sure to keep him nice and toasty in an underwater volcano, so that his annoying ability to revive himself after dying is pretty much immediately the worst thing in the whole world for him before he dies and the cycle repeats itself."

"That's sadistic." The boy finally spoke for the first time, while the other adults behind him all showed signs of grimacing and cringes. Koko merely raised an eyebrow for a brief moment.

"So? Killing him wouldn't work anyway and that wasn't enough in our minds, so we decided on using his own strength against him as a means of tormenting him for all eternity. What he did got very personal, very fast. Not our problem to worry about the ethics for our revenge." Yuuki's eyes slightly narrowed at the boy's comment as she gave her reasoning.

"Jonah's right... That is sadistic, but you two are also right... He does seem to deserve it." Koko gently put her hand onto Jonah's shoulder, earning a quick glance from the Vietnamese boy. "So, Tobias, I'm sure you already know this, but I was the one that had that dirtbag Ricardo Irving's location and his shipment found out. I still have the picture too, Jonah was the one that took it with my phone." Koko seemed oddly proud of the fact she'd assisted in the capture of the bioweapon smuggler.

"I believe his words were... ' _Some fuckin' white haired arms dealer bitch with this young silver haired, red eyed kid with a scar on his cheek_ ' when I interrogated him." Tobias smiled in amusement. "Sound about like him?"

"Oh, very much so." Koko laughed. "So, why _did_ you call me and the crew out here? Can't just be to meet your daughters, is it?"

"No, I'd like to thank you for your involvement. Everything you've done, I'm grateful, and I'd like to extend the honour of now personally being in _your_ debt. Just say the word, I owe you a big favour." Tobias extended his hand, and Koko smiled again as she firmly grasped it.

"I'll keep that in mind. Now, I'm not exactly familiar with Ghouls, but I do know from our first meeting all those years ago that you drink coffee. Shall we?" She released his hand, and he nodded.

"Of course, we'll be right behind you." Tobias nodded as Koko and Jonah rejoined their smiling crew, leaving the three bioweapons to stare over the crater one last time before following the group back to the road where their three motorbikes - and the crew's two SUV's - were waiting.

Behind them, Tobias had left a plaque of ice where they'd been standing. The near-indestructible surface bore a simple message that was heavy with emotion.

" _To the citizens of the city I once called my home, you that I unfortunately destroyed on my path for vengeance, I am truly sorry. I wished you no ill will, and I accept full responsibility for your destruction. Signed, Tobias Dimitri Darkwood, or as some of you knew me; Frostbite, the Arctic Juggernaut_."

In the lead SUV, Koko smiled at Jonah's forced silence, feeling the tension he was radiating like Tobias' cold aura.

"Alright, Jonah, which one was catching your eye?" Koko knew she'd caught him, even if he didn't give a reaction before speaking.

"The red one." Jonah admitted, staring out the window and speaking in his usual monotonous voice. "Rachael's the cuter one."

"Yo, Jonah, you do know they're like, fifteen or sixteen right?" Lutz laughed at the boy, who was approaching his 24th birthday soon. "They're still in high school!"

"So?" Jonah didn't care. He belonged to Koko, in more ways than just as her bodyguard. "She's still the cuter one, in my opinion."

Behind them on the bikes, Rachael spoke into their shared intercom in Russian to Yuuki.

"What'd you think of that Jonah kid? I thought he was kinda cute, like... strong silent type cute."

"He's like, ten years older than us! Look at him all you fuckin' want, Koko's clearly got him around her finger if she's got him in arms reach like that." Yuuki replied, well aware that their dad was laughing at them.

"You know something, don't you?" Rachael demanded, to which her father gave his reply.

"You didn't smell it on them? They'd had sex together very, _very_ recently. So I think saying he's wrapped around her finger is a bit of an understatement."

"Koko's a _cougar_?!" Both of the girls started laughing, completely taken by surprise at the shared mental images of her seducing Jonah with milk and cookies in nothing but an apron and a thong.

* * *

 **A/N: And there you have it. Yuki-Onna as a story is now completed. But, I have an announcement: I have decided to create a series of oneshot stories, all non-canon (Unless I directly say it's to clarify vague/ignored information from the main storyline) into a compilation. I've tentatively called it "Non-Canon Nonsense" but the name isn't set in stone... Yet. For now, I have one 'chapter', if that's the right word, completed. And I am in the process of writing a second, which is for my co-writer, Vizord.**

 **I'll explain things better in the first chapter when I do upload it, which should be in the next few days or so. For now, it's just announcing the idea I have to keep myself familiar with the characters and story lore/history in preparation for writing the third story.**


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